Nickolay Trofimchuk

Putin nominated new members of the Presidential council on religion, among them Nickolay Trofimchuk. Trofimchuk is the head of the department of studies of religion on the Russian academy of state service (former institute of the Central Committee of the Communist party - still making clerks for the government.)

In "Nezavisimaya gazeta" (28.3.2001) Trofimchuk formulated his views quite explicitly:

"Our Slavonic culture is in danger. ... Among anti-Russian campaign most important are the activities of foreign missionaries ... By the way, industrial countries prohibit to foreign missionaries any activities on the territory, their governments guard national culture and spirituality and no one blames them in violating religious freedom. Even more important, United States in 1998 put in action the law "On International Freedom of Conscience" so that Americans now received "lawful" right to intervene in the inner affairs of states who understand the freedom of religion in non-American way"

Trofimchuk then tells a long and old story about connection of Western missionary efforts with colonialism and deduce:

"Missionary activities are used for spreading the values of the Western world. This is why Russian State must help to the missionary activities of the Russian Orthodox Church, tradition of which is the part of the Russian culture."