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The President named five main objectives facing the Ministry.

They were: safety of the individual and society, the fight against terrorism and extremism, a favourable business climate in the country, countering illicit drug trafficking, and stopping illegal migration.

He admitted that the crime wave was not abating, and reported that over 2.7 million crimes, more than half of them serious and very serious, were registered during the first 11 months of the current year.

He also noted that ordinary people do not always turn to the police, often because they do not expect to find help and protection there.

Turning to Chechnya, the President noted that a telling blow had been dealt to the terrorist infrastructure. But aside from abolishing militant groups and their channels of supply, he said, it was also important to redouble efforts to set up credible law enforcement agencies in the republic.

As an example of extremism, the President cited recent disturbances at the Tsaritsyno marketplace in Moscow. It was the direct goal of Interior bodies, he said, to crack down on the activities of such criminal groupings and prevent conflicts on ethnic and religious grounds.

It was his conviction, he said, that law enforcement bodies should help create a favourable business climate in the country and act as representatives of the law, not an exponent of brute force.

The President said that establishment of a special federal service to deal with illicit drug trafficking was being discussed.

He described control over immigration and stopping illegal immigration as a new and very important aspect of Interior Ministry activities. He urged the Interior Ministry to coordinate efforts in this area with other departments and work out a strategy for addressing the immigration problem.