Back in the USSR!
Seleznyov is a moderate Communist, BTW.
Chris Doss The Russia Journal ------------------
Russia's role in Central Asia to grow
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Moscow should build up its security force presence in Central Asia, a top Russian lawmaker told reporters Saturday.
Gennady Seleznyov, the speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, spoke at a training center of Russia's Border Guard Service unit, stationed in the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan.
Seleznyov added that the current presence of Italian and French military contingents in Tajikistan was of a "temporary nature." He emphasized their future activities in the country should "by all means be controlled by the United Nations."
The arrival of French and Italian troops in Tajikistan was part of the U.S.-led effort to maintain security in neighboring Afghanistan in the aftermath of the war against the Taliban regime and international terrorists believed to be hiding there.
In recent months, some of prominent figures in Russia's top-level politics have voiced their concerns over the apparent reduction of Russia's role in Central Asia as Washington stepped up its cooperation with former Soviet republics to fight terrorists harbored by the Taliban.
Russia's border guards have jointly manned the volatile Afghan-Tajik border with the Tajik policemen since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Over the last decade, border guards have prevented tens of thousands of narcotics and arms smugglers from entering Tajikistan, often engaging in armed clashes involving heavy casualties.
On Saturday, Seleznyov toured the training center and was shown the latest weapons used by the border guards.
The speaker praised the level of the units' combat readiness and degree of preparation to carry out their military tasks.
Seleznyov headed a delegation of the State Duma lawmakers who were on a two-day working visit to Tajikistan.