"We are not against further involvement of the OSCE in the development of democracy on the post-Soviet space, although this process must be objective and include all countries in that region," Sergei Ivanov stated at a press conference in Munich.
On its part, Russia is willing to continue the steady movement toward democracy, which is developing "normally" in the country, Mr. Ivanov underlined.
"I believe democracy in Russia is in a normal state. We are ready to steadily move in that direction, though, at the same time, we would prefer to remain the masters of our own house," Mr. Ivanov stated at a press conference in Munich commenting on a statement of U.S. State Secretary Condoleezza Rice about U.S. readiness to support the actions of Russian civil society aimed at safeguarding the principles of democracy.
"Democracy is not a potato that can be taken from one garden and simply replanted in another," Mr. Ivanov remarked.
The Russian defense minister also called for the OSCE reform.
"Russia does not insist on dissolution of the OSCE. We are talking about the need for reforms in that organization, and the Slovakian foreign minister has already touched upon this subject at the Munich conference," Mr. Ivanov underlined.
He told the journalists that he would travel to Germany on a working visit in March 2005.
According to the minister, he plans to conduct a meeting with the German defense minister among other events.
"We will discuss a number of bilateral issues and the situation in various 'hot spots,' including Afghanistan," the minister said.
Mr. Ivanov reminded the journalists that the process of military and military-technical cooperation between Russia and Germany had been developing quite successfully. In particular, the minister mentioned theRussian-German agreement on military transit to Afghanistan through Russian territory signed in 2004.
The minister informed the participants of the press conference that more than 20,000 German military personnel and hundreds of thousands of containers with military cargo had been transported to Afghanistan since the conclusion of the agreement.
