MOSCOW (Realist English). Today, our hero in the Symbols of the Epoch series is the Director of the Federal Security Service, Alexander Bortnikov.
It is very difficult to write about this active person, but devoid of external effects. He fully corresponds to the image of an officer of the special services — he is invisible. And it does not correspond to the image of James Bond at all.
His biography also seems simple. He got into the KGB on a Komsomol ticket at a very good time in 1975. At the same time, Vladimir Putin and Nikolai Patrushev joined the KGB. Then, as they say, everything is clear. And it’s true, only it’s not the whole truth.
Yes, all three of them came, probably met. But then everyone built a career on their own. Putin did this in Germany, Patrushev – in Karelia, and Bortnikov in St. Petersburg. And everyone has succeeded. Therefore, their alliance in 2000 became not just an association of three acquaintances, but a union of three professionals who proved their professional aptitude.
That is why their alliance proved efficient.
But one could ask me: “What does the symbols of the epoch have to do with this?”.
Meanwhile, Bortnikov is a symbol and a very important one. In our country, security agencies have always been perceived as extraordinary. But the state cannot constantly live in conditions of emergency. Any emergency structure is temporary, and therefore short-lived. Therefore, all authorities should switch to “normal activities”, become the same authority as the Ministry of Finance, albeit with their own specific tasks and methods. The symbol and creator of this transition is Bortnikov.
Of course, today’s situation seems to force us to return to the emergency measures. But I hope that General Bortnikov has enough professionalism to solve problems using “conventional” methods.
This is extremely important, because one of the goals of the West is to make Russia return to the extreme. But we shouldn’t give in.
Dmitry Zhuravlev is Director of the Institute of Regional Problems, special to Realist English
