Moscow ? Declaring that his country “has been and will be a major European nation,” President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia was committed to a democratic course and called for expanding media freedoms, protecting private investment and strengthening opposition political parties.

In his annual state of the nation address to parliament, Putin sought to counter criticism that his administration has strayed from democratic values. “The main political and ideological task is the development of Russia as a free and democratic state,” he said, downplaying the idea that Russia has no tradition of freedom.

Putin proposed the creation of an independent commission to oversee compliance by the state-owned broadcast media “with the principles of freedom of expression” and also pledged to guarantee opposition politicians access to television — factors that have been blamed in recent years for the near-disappearance of Western-oriented parties from parliament.

The president, widely criticized last year for canceling elections of regional governors in favor of Kremlin-appointed officials, also proposed boosting the development of independent parties by appointing governors from the party that prevailed in regional elections.

The moves come not only amid widening criticism from the West, but in the face of popular revolts that have toppled the Kremlin’s authoritarian counterparts in neighboring Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan over the past 18 months.

Some analysts said Putin’s bow toward democracy was an attempt to head off similar revolts in Russia. The president said Russia was embracing democracy on its own terms, and implied that protests aimed at toppling the government would meet resistance.

Yet Putin also lamented the demise of the Soviet Union, saying that it was “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.” Putin, who served as a colonel in the KGB, has resurrected some communist symbols, bringing back the music of the old Soviet anthem and the Soviet-style red banner as the military’s flag.