Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the success of democracy in Russia could be evaluated only 100 years from now, according to an interview he gave to Western media published Thursday.
Speaking to European journalists Wednesday evening, the prime minister said there was no special path for Russia's development of democracy, noting that democracy and constitutional order in each country were shaped by specific "national features."
Russia does not have a long democratic tradition, he said, and the country is only now taking its first steps toward the development of democracy.
"Let's put it this way," he told journalists. "If after 100 years, for example, there are some problems, then, perhaps, something went wrong during that time."
He said some Western criticism of the state of democracy in Russia was "absolutely wrong and offensive," adding, however, that the country is open to constructive criticism, some of which may be "partially true."
"We are not ideal," Medvedev said.
