Vladimir Putin Speaks: Multiculturalism Has Failed the West

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that multiculturalism has failed in the West.

During an end-of-year press conference, Putin observed that there is a cultural clash taking place in the West.

When responding to an inquiry from RT correspondent Igor Zhdanov during his this press conference, Putin remarked that there is a fine line between freedom of expressing and insulting an entire group of people.

“Where is the boundary between one freedom and another freedom,” the Russian statesman asked. “It is well known that where one man’s freedom begins, another’s must end.” He continued by noting that those who “act thoughtlessly, insulting the rights and feelings of religious people, should always remember there will be an inevitable backlash. But, on the other hand, this shouldn’t be an aggressive one.” He alluded to recent incidents in France as proof that multiculturalism has failed.

Putin’s remarks came after a grisly incident in Paris, France where Abullakh Anzorov,  an 18-year-old Muslim of Chechen origin, decapitated a schoolteacher Samuel Paty for showing cartoon depictions of the Prophet Mohammed during a class on free speech back in October. 

Seven men of Chechen origin were charged for the murder of Paty. 

The president of France Emmanuel Macron angered a number of Islamic nations after declaring that Paty is  “a quiet hero” and “the face of the Republic.” Various Muslim countries announced boycotts of French products, and some protesters went out on the streets to burn effigies of Macron.

Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Russia’s majority-Islamic Chechen Republic, criticized the attack, but “urged people not to provoke believers or hurt their religious feelings. In the meantime, find the strength to admit that Muslims have the right to religion, and no one will take it away!”

Indeed, Putin is correct about the failure of multiculturalism. However, this is not a question about free speech but mass migration policies that bring in large swathes of people coming from cultures which are alien to the West. 

Chechen insurgents have already been a major headache for the Russian Federation since the fall of the Soviet Union. There are large numbers of Islamic radicals within their ranks and they are more than willing to commit attacks of terror and form statelets to consolidate their power.

When they go abroad, and congregate in large numbers, they have trouble assimilating in their new countries of residence. France has been Exhibit A of this trend, with large ethnic ghettos of migrants who refuse to assimilate beginning to form around the country.

Prudence would dictate that Western countries implement immigration restriction in order to encourage assimilation and promote national integrity.