Vadim Balanin, Russia’s deputy justice minister, said at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum that living together without officially registering a marriage poses a threat to the country’s national security. The issue was discussed during the session “Strong Family as a Value Guideline for Family Law”.
According to Balanin, family relations have changed significantly in recent years. He said the state is now facing the spread of unregistered cohabitation, while the number of officially registered marriages ending in divorce remains high.
“Now, as you all know very well, we are faced with such a phenomenon as cohabitation without marriage registration. At the same time, the number of dissolutions of already registered marriages remains significant. In our view, such trends can be regarded as a direct threat to the national security and demographic health of our country,” the official said.
The deputy minister also referred to the West, where, in his view, an “era of revision of traditional values” is underway. He said such challenges could “undermine the foundations of statehood” in Russia and that the country therefore needs to protect the family.
Balanin added that the Justice Ministry supports measures aimed at strengthening family relations, backs efforts to counter the destruction of traditional ideologies, and is monitoring amendments to the Family Code.
In recent years, the Russian authorities have carried out a broad campaign promoting “traditional values”. Among other things, the state has fought against abortions, urged Russians not to divorce, and refused to adopt a law on domestic violence. Earlier, the State Duma justified its refusal to introduce stronger protections for victims of abuse by relatives by arguing that such a law could allegedly discourage men from marrying.