Russian leader says environment problems a security threat

Russia’s environmental problems are a threat to national security and could make parts of the country uninhabitable within 30 years, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday.

On a televised visit to Saint Petersburg, the Russian leader said that after post-Soviet hardship in the 1990s it was time to turn to environmental questions.

“Our country is in a threatened state. If we don’t deal with this, then in 10, 20, 30 years we could be in a situation where part of the country’s territory is unfit for habitation,” Medvedev told students at the law faculty where he once studied.

“Ecology is a question of national security,” he said.

Terra Daily