Blogging the democratic revolution
… By Russia! Go figure. THE international organisation that criticised the conduct of elections in Georgia before the Velvet Revolution and in Ukraine before the Orange Revolution has been accused by the Russian Government of double standards. Criticism of electoral abuses in former Soviet states by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) could ???????sometimes trigger unrest and destroy stability and is used by the extremist forces in those countries???????, said Alexey Borodavkin, Russia????????s Ambassador to the organisation. He said that the OSCE needed to introduce reforms to its procedure for election monitoring and accused the organisation of…
President Hu of China is in Russia for a four-day visit with Putin where the two will agree on an array of political and economic ties for their roles in the region and in the world. Chinese President Hu Jintao Friday called for greater efforts to strengthen the strategic partnership and economic and trade ties between China and Russia. Hu Jintao met Russia????????s top lawmakers, Boris Gryzlov, and Sergei Mironov. Later he and Putin signed a joint declaration on the new world order in the 21st century. In a meeting with Boris Gryzlov, chairman of Russia????????s State Duma, Hu said…
Yesterday, I posted “More squawking of a Russia-Belarus union,” though significantly most of that squawking comes from Belarus’ side. Here’s a piece in RFE/RL that adds further to yesterday’s post. KREMLIN ADVISERS SCOLD BELARUS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD… In an open letter to Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka published on 23 June at sovetpanfilova.ru, the Council for Promoting Civil Society and Human Rights (SSRIGOPCh) under Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed its concern about “the unfavorable situation with civic rights and freedoms” in Belarus. The council, which is an advisory body whose head is appointed by Putin, said that Belarus has virtually…
Remember back several months ago when Putin declared that regional governors would be appointed rather than elected. It didn’t really matter in the first place, because those elected were already vetted for approval by Moscow. The reason Putin gave is that he would be able to install more popular and competent leaders should they be needed. But elections hold both a practical and symbolic importance, especially when the corrupt and incompetent leadership is not being replaced. Russia????????s abolition of regional elections ????????- a reflex reaction to the Beslan tragedy ????????- has backfired. Instead of bringing order to the North Caucasus,…
There has been some talk about this for awhile now, though it usually amounts to nothing. Lukashenko is basically looking for a way to preserve his power and status through oppression. With so much pressure from the west, he must be counting down the days until the end of his reign. Because of that, he has to look eastward; specifically, Russia (though greater ties with countries such as Zimbabwe are revealing as well). This has largely resulted in military cooperation and aid, though talks over a joint currency and even possible union are being talked about, albeit haltingly without much…
After years of stalled talks between the two, Georgia and Russia have signed a joint declaration pledging toward a specific plan for the pullout of Russian military bases from Georgia. The Russian and Georgian Foreign Ministries published a joint declaration, which outlines the process of withdrawal of Russian military bases from Georgia. It also deals border delimitation and conflict resolution issues. The Joint Declaration was signed by the to Ministers ???????? Sergey Lavrov and Salome Zourabichvili, after talks in Moscow on May 30. According to the declaration Russia committed itself to putting its two military bases, in Batumi and Akhalkalaki,…
I’ve been reading through this piece on RIA Novosti, the Russian news and information agency. To the effect of KGB intelligence gathering, they’ve made a large collection of articles written in the former Soviet republics before and after the V-E Day celebrations. In particular, what they’ve written against Russia. Until you get to the Central Asia dictatorships, it looks pretty harsh.
The ritz and glamour of the V-E Day celebrations in Moscow are coming to a close, and nearly everyone, except my German grandmother, has been watching and opining on what it all means for U.S.-Russia relations. At one moment, you have Bush praising the Baltics and preaching freedom and democracy in Belarus. On the other, you have Putin criticizing American democracy, hailing the Soviet Union and even erecting statues of Stalin. You’d think the Cold War is about to get hot again! Then you see the two watching an impressive military display, smiling and laughing together, and driving around in…
Bush is travelling to Russia to for the 60th anniversary of V-E Day on Monday. I almost used the word “celebrate” in there, but that would not be enirely accurate. Verbal sparring has edged its way up between the United States and Russia, as President Bush and Putin insist upon different views of the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe. President Bush has tried to set the record to that Soviet occupation tyrannical and that Russia needs to work toward democracy. Putin has pressed that while Stalin was a tyrant, the Soviet Union did Eastern Europe a great justice by liberating…
Over the past two months there have been protests in Ingushetia demanding the president resign over corruption. So far, things have gone generally peacefully. But read this recent report on RFE/RL and you will see just how corrupt those authorities are, and how they put down the protests by defaming them with fake fliers before arresting them. Prague, 30 April 2005 (RFE/RL) — Police and army troops used force on 30 April to disperse a protest in Nazran, the capital of Ingushetia, and detain its organizers. Officials had earlier warned the protest organizers, including Ingushetian Parliament Deputy Musa Ozdoev, against…
One of the most hilarious and scary headlines of the day has been that Putin mourned the downfall of the USSR in his “State of the Nation” address. In his annual state of the nation address to parliament and the country’s top political leaders, Putin said the Soviet collapse was “a genuine tragedy” for Russians. “First and foremost it is worth acknowledging that the demise of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century,” Putin said. “As for the Russian people, it became a genuine tragedy. Tens of millions of our fellow citizens and countrymen found themselves…
Even as he reiterates his commitment to democracy, either he is lying or does not know the definition. The pro-Putin Duma is expected to pass legislation that would further restrict qualifications for parties entering the legislature. Russian MPs have approved a crucial second reading of a controversial law which could increase the Kremlin’s control over parliament. The bill, which is expected to be adopted, would change the way parliamentary deputies are elected. Members of the lower house, the Duma, would be chosen by proportional representation, with parties needing 7% of the vote to get seats. Critics say it will be…
You want it? I don’t have it. But Andy does! Check out Siberian Light for everything that’s happened this week in Russia.
I fell asleep and crashed hard last night before I could make a post on this, but 4000 students protested in Moscow. In the crowd were students from various Moscow universities and several groups from Lipetsk, Voronezh and the Moscow region. Some students came to the rally with their professors. Another rally of 2,700 students was held Tuesday in Nizhny Novgorod. At the Moscow rally, students held banners and posters that read “Hands Off Free Education!” “A Hungry Student Is a Force to Be Reckoned With!” “How About Trying to Live on a Salary of a Young College Professor?” and…
The official Pora website hasn’t been updated in months, so I’ve been really wondering what they’ve been up to since the Orange Revolution. Since then, they’ve created the Red Pora youth organization, which seeks to immitate its Ukrainian civic campaign in Russia. There still isn’t much, but according to this article, Pora has backed Mikhail Kasyanov for president in 2008. A political youth group has said it will support former Russian prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov in his bid for the presidency in 2008. The group, called Pora! (High Time), has the same name as the youth group in Ukraine that…
Tipping the hat to Gateway Pundit for letting me know about this. You may remember when about a week and a half ago ten thousand protestors in Bashkortostan gathered to demand their president’s resignation. Today, they took it on an airplane straight to Moscow. 7 April 2005 — Activists from the central Russian republic of Bashkortostan flew to Moscow today to call for the removal of Bashkortostan President Murtaza Rakhimov. Roughly 200 activists planned to deliver a petition to the Kremlin that they claim carries 100,000-plus signatures. Opponents accuse Rakhimov of human rights abuses and corruption. The group has official…
For what you need to know from the last week of news from Russia and its near-abroad, check out Andy’s — guess — weekly news roundup.
One more: A former Yukos bigwig says that Russia will have a revolution once Belarus gets its act together. Meanwhile, government elites a trumping up such a possibility so as to portay Putin as a strongman and the only person capable of holding the country together. Indeed, it does seem as if the Russian rudder has fallen off. Bush looks as if he will push his advantage while in Europe, visiting with presidents from various ex-Soviet client states. Putin’s not happy, but there isn’t much he can do about it.
Andy has the weekly roundup… up. Everything dealing with Putin and his cronies and the near abroad! Check it out! My personal favorite was Russia’s threat to withhold funding from the OSCE if it doesn’t change its mission from those sickly human rights to security. They would say that, wouldn’t they?
I was just going through Google news last night and read an article on The Tufts Daily, an editorial piece regarding the Tulip Revolution. A lot of it had to do with post-revolution relations with Russia and how Kyrgyzstan should move away from its influence. Well, besides being physically impossible to move, I dropped a comment on there that I’ll report here for analytical sakes given then I rarely do that. Kremlin foreign policy post-Orange Revolution has been to work with both governments and opposition parties to ensure steady political and economic relations with Russia despite a change of governance.…
I was taking a look at this article about recent demonstrations around Russia — you know, Kyrgyzstan and a little bit about Belarus. One part in particular caught my eye, though. Two Russian ethnic republics, Ingushetia and Bashkortostan, have seen mass street demonstrations this week directed against Kremlin-installed leaders. Even in remote Mongolia, the former USSR’s Asian satellite, hundreds of protesters gathered last week to “congratulate our Kyrgyz brothers” and demand a rerun of last June’s disputed parliamentary polls. Amazing how these things almost fly under the radar (just like how Bahrain totally missed the MSM’s map). Partner in revolutionary…
Continuing protests in southern Kyrgyzstan are giving rise to speculation that Russia might intervene militarily. Democracy Guy and Registan.net both correctly say, however, that the Russian military isn’t capable of an unwanted intervention (read: invasion), and the geo-political ramifications would be immense – certainly far more than the Kremlin wants to deal with right now. A peacekeeping mission, probably at the invitation of President Akayev, seems to be the only remaining option open to Russia if it wants to find some way of directly intervening in Kyrgyzstan, but that too is an option fraught with problems. Problems which I believe…
This from the BBC yesterday, on Russia finally having had enough with OSCE election observation missions. (thanks to Nathan for picking it up) Russia’s Foreign Ministry condemned the protests, blaming "extremists". "Extremist forces must not be allowed to use political instability to create a threat to the democratic foundations of the Kyrgyz statehood," it said in a statement. Russia also rebuked the Organization for Security and Cooperation Äin EuropeÅ (OSCE) for declaring that the elections had fallen short of democratic standards. It urged the body to be "more responsible" in its election monitoring conclusions "to prevent destructive elements from using…
Andy over at Siberian Light has his weekly news roundup for Russia up. Check it out!
There were some reports earlier that the China-Russia joint military exercises were changed to prepare for an invasion of Taiwan. The Russian army chief categorically denied this. BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhuanet) — Visiting Russian army chief said here Thursday that the preparing Russian and Chinese joint military exercise is not targeted at any third country. “The first joint military exercise is a new way of cooperation between the two militaries,” said Yury Baluyevsky, Russian chief of general staff, who is on his first trip abroad since he took upthe post last July. Instead of being targeted at any third country,…