The famous Signet Library, which houses a unique store of literature on jurisprudence, was chosen as the venue for Mr. Putin’s meeting with prominent Scottish scientific, business and cultural figures. The president said it was a great pleasure for him to visit and speak in this famous legal library’s magnificent hall, as it is so filled with history and steeped in an atmosphere of commitment to the law.
Mr. Putin called the law and legality the foundation upon which the state should be built and society developed. He also called on the nations of Europe to make sure that new dividing lines do not appear on the continent and that the Schengen Zone and its rules do not come to be perceived in the same way as the Berlin Wall was not so long ago. The president stressed that Russia and Europe should compliment each other.
The page in our history that was the Cold War is now closed, but new contradictions and threats have emerged. The most effective way of countering these new threats is through solidarity, unity, mutual respect and trust.
Mr. Putin also noted the importance of strengthening the role and authority of the United Nations as a universal instrument for managing international processes.