Russia interested in strong Tajikistan - Federation Council speaker

DUSHANBE. Oct 11 (Interfax) - A strong Tajikistan is key to stability across Central Asia, Russian Federation Council Chair Valentina Matviyenko said.

"I'd like to emphasize that Russia is interested in a strong Tajikistan. And these are not just words, because a strong Tajikistan is essential for stability in the whole of the Central Asian region," Matviyenko said at an international parliamentary conference marking the 30th anniversary of the Tajik constitution in Dushanbe on Friday.

Amid current geopolitical instability, both countries are searching for solutions to modern-day challenges and threats, she said.

"We attach great importance to our cooperation in ensuring regional security and in combating terrorism, extremism, cross-border crime, and drug trafficking," Matviyenko said.

The adoption of Tajikistan's constitution in 1994 was a milestone that determined "the future development of Tajikistan as a unified, sovereign, secular and democratic state," she said.

Matviyenko also touched upon the studying of the Russian language in Tajikistan.

"We appreciate the Tajik side's attention to the teaching of the Russian language in the republic," she said, thanking the Tajik authorities for constitutionalizing the status of the Russian language as the language of interethnic communication.

"This is important not only for Russia and Tajikistan, but it is crucial for the entire post-Soviet space that we have a language of interethnic communication. We don't need interpreters both literally and figuratively," Matviyenko said.

A delegation of Russian senators, including Matviyenko, is paying an official visit to Tajikistan.