The State of Affairs in Russia

[11B4V]

You know, I dont like the Russians. Product of Cold War indoc no doubt. Always been taught to hate them. They're shifty. They smell of fish and vodka.

[Syt]

Austrian radio interviewed an enterpreneur in the cultural scene why she supports Putin.

"You see, in Russia you have this very large majority of unintelligent people. And a very small minority of intelligent people, like us. Putin is making policy for the large amount of unintelligent people, and that is good. Otherwise they would start a revolution and Communism would come back!"

[CountDeMoney]

Russia tells US: We don't want your aid money
By NBC News staff and wire reports

Russia has told the U.S. to close its aid mission in the country - a move analysts attributed to Moscow's dislike of foreign-funded, pro-democracy groups.

The U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, has spent more than $2.7 billion in the two decades since the fall of the Soviet Union, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters Tuesday, adding that it had planned to spend $50 million this year.

"While our USAID physical presence in Russia is going to end, we remain committed to supporting democracy, human rights, and the development of a more robust civil society in Russia, and we look forward to continuing our close cooperation with Russian non-governmental organizations," Nuland said.

A Russian Foreign Ministry source confirmed the closure to the Russian news service RIA Novosti and added that more information would be released soon.

Nuland added that USAID had worked over the years with the Russian government to "fight AIDS there, fight tuberculosis, help orphans, help the disabled, combat trafficking, support Russian programs in the environmental area, wildlife protection."

"So it is our hope that Russia will now, itself, assume full responsibility and take forward all of this work that we were proud to do together so that the Russian people continue to have the benefit," she said.

'Rich enough'?
Asked if the Russian government had expressed "specific points of dissatisfaction with USAID's work" or had simply said "We're rich enough, we don't need it?", Nuland said she would let the Russians "characterize their motivations." But she added that "I would say it tends to trend towards the latter, their sense that they don't need this anymore."

USAID's ordered departure comes amid a broader crackdown on Russian civil society groups after fraud-tainted parliamentary election last year prompted massive anti-government protests.

President Vladimir Putin blamed Washington for trying to destabilize Russia and accused Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for signaling the start of demonstrations.

Steven Pifer, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who is now at the Brookings Institution think tank, told Reuters that he believed the decision on USAID reflected some reluctance by the Russian government to see foreign support for pro-democracy efforts in the country.

"They see AID's efforts in Russia as being a prime funder of the NGOs that are concerned about their elections and concerned about the regression of democracy in Russia," Pifer said.

He said the Russian government may also be "trying to make it more difficult" for the outside world to support pro-democracy NGOs in Russia.

Russia a 'great power'
Matthew Rojansky, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Reuters that Russian authorities "have made clear for the better part of a decade that they see Russia as a great power and a provider of assistance, not a recipient."

"Add to that tension over the pre- and post-election protests, which the Kremlin alleges were orchestrated by U.S.-funded NGOs (non-governmental organizations), plus the deep disagreement over U.S. democracy-promotion activities in the Middle East, and you can see why Russia may have taken this decision now," he added.

NGOs receiving foreign funding and engaging in political activity must now register as "foreign agents," which is likely to undermine their credibility among Russians.

Another law sharply increases the punishment for taking part in an unauthorized protest rallies. State television has denounced the country's only independent election-monitoring body, Golos.

Grigory Melkonyants, the deputy director of Golos, which gets most of its funding from the U.S., said closing the USAID office "is an unfriendly move toward the U.S."

He criticized the Kremlin's "paranoia and nervousness" and "inability to understand the reasons behind serious public discontent. They are looking elsewhere for culprits and think it's rooted in the American funding."

"The Russian government's decision to end all USAID activities in the country is an insult to the United States and a finger in the eye of the Obama Administration," Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, said in a statement.

"There should be no confusion as to why this decision was made: an increasingly autocratic government in Russia wants to limit the ability of its own citizens to freely and willingly work with American partners on the promotion of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in Russia," he added.

[CountDeMoney]

Vladi­mir Putin says of Mitt Romney: At least he's direct

MOSCOW — Soviet leaders used to prefer Republicans to Democrats, in the belief that Republicans were tough but more sincere and, once they made a promise, were more likely to deliver on it.

There has been a whiff of that old way of thinking in recent remarks by President Vladimir Putin, even though plenty has changed in Russia's relations with the United States. Speaking to reporters last week, Putin said he appreciates GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's bluntness in his denunciations of Russia — because that stance lets Russia know where it stands, and reinforces Putin's opposition to a missile defense shield in Europe.

Sarcastic? Maybe just a bit.

"That Mr. Romney considers us enemy number one and apparently has bad feelings about Russia is a minus, but, considering that he expresses himself bluntly, openly and clearly, means that he is an open and sincere man, which is a plus," Putin said after a meeting with Serbia's president.

"We will be oriented toward pluses, not minuses," Putin said. "And I am actually very grateful to him for formulating his position in a straightforward manner."

Putin has also praised President Obama for his sincerity, with seemingly less spin. But even if Obama should win reelection, Putin said, someone like Romney might come along in four years, and then Russia would regret it if it had given in on the U.S. missile defense project.

Romney's characterization of Russia earlier this year as the United States' No. 1 geopolitical foe caught the attention of Russian officials, and engendered scorn in the media. But Putin views the United States as Russia's main adversary — that is, a competitor, not an enemy, as Georgy Mirsky, an expert on Russia's Middle East policy, pointed out in a recent interview.

Putin may see where Romney is coming from. In the Russian presidential campaign last winter, he and his allies heaped abuse on the United States. They accused it of financing and leading political protests in Russia; organized groups that badgered U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul; and denounced U.S. intentions in Syria as well as what Russia considered an American double cross on Libya.

Russian officials are furious about Congress's Magnitsky bill — which would impose visa and financial sanctions on identified human rights abusers in Russia — and have promised to retaliate if it becomes law. (The White House has resisted the measure.)

How much of this is rhetoric designed for public consumption is difficult to judge, in either country — but in an interview with the RT television channel, Putin presented himself as someone who would be able to deal with a President Romney.

"We'll work with whoever gets elected as president by the American people," he said. But Putin has shown time and again that he distrusts and resists change, especially on the world stage. Although he and Obama have tussled over Middle East intervention, human rights and missile defense, they have staked out their ground clearly, and Obama promises the sort of continuity that Putin values.

Putin also believes that he has a remaining debt to collect from Obama. In the much-debated "reset" in relations, in Moscow's view, Russia has agreed to the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, helped the United States maintain a supply route to Afghanistan, and cooperated on Iran's nuclear program. The United States has helped Russia join the World Trade Organization — although from the Russian point of view, that may help American businesses more than Russian ones. But otherwise, in Putin's telling, the United States hasn't kept up its end of the bargain, not on missile defense or on the Middle East. And that debt would presumably become uncollectable with a Romney victory.

At a conference Saturday in the Black Sea resort of Yalta, Russian officials were eager to take shots at the GOP candidate. Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said a Romney win could launch a new arms race. "We may have to enlarge the defense budget," he said — although big increases are already planned.

German Gref, the head of Sberbank, asked, according to the Interfax news agency, "How is it possible to cooperate when the prospective leader tags a country as an adversary?"

Fyodor Lukyanov, a foreign policy expert with a good understanding of the Kremlin's position, argued in a recent essay that Romney's choice of Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.) as his running mate created a slate with no foreign policy experience. Even for a country with little interest in the world it dominates, he wrote, this is an alarming development.

In the latest Transatlantic Trends poll, a sampling of European and American public opinion that was conducted by the German Marshall Fund, 38 percent of Russians said they approved of Obama's handling of relations with Russia and of the way he deals with the fight against international terrorism. Fewer supported him on Afghanistan and Iran. Overall, 36 percent of Russians had a favorable view of Obama; 59 percent said they had no opinion about Romney, or declined to answer. Asked whom they would vote for if they could, 27 percent of Russians chose Obama, as opposed to 12 percent who opted for Romney. (In France, the split was 89 percent to 2 percent.)

Nineteen percent of Russians said that American leadership in world affairs is desirable.

[CountDeMoney]

You know, I dont like the Russians. Product of Cold War indoc no doubt. Always been taught to hate them. They're shifty. They smell of fish and vodka.

Sat in on a seminar with Oleg Kalugin once, and he said the one comfortable thing about the Russians is the predictability of their paranoia;  they still think the CIA and MI6 are at the bottom of everything that goes on.

[Eddie Teach]

(In France, the split was 89 percent to 2 percent.)

I guess my mother must be right, Obama's policies really have been anti-Israel.

[Capetan Mihali]

Sigh. 

  Subtlety fail.

[Razgovory]

We still gave money to these guys?  I'll be damned.

[Razgovory]

You know, I dont like the Russians. Product of Cold War indoc no doubt. Always been taught to hate them. They're shifty. They smell of fish and vodka.

Sat in on a seminar with Oleg Kalugin once, and he said the one comfortable thing about the Russians is the predictability of their paranoia;  they still think the CIA and MI6 are at the bottom of everything that goes on.

A person who believes in conspiracy theories is much easier to hoodwink then one who doesn't.

[Tonitrus]

Thanks for language practice...I checked the original Russian on Putin's comments.  The article's translation is spot on.

[garbon]

http://news.yahoo.com/time-russias-medvedev-resists-change-133721061.html

When will the sun come up today? In Russia, it's a matter of fierce debate, and one that may reflect the sinking stature of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Medvedev declared Thursday that he has no immediate intention of reversing his decision to leave Russia's clocks on summer time the whole year.

The move he made in 2011 when he was president has been widely unpopular as it has plunged the sprawling nation into darkness until late morning throughout the winter.

And now it's not clear how long that decree will actually last.

Medvedev's mentor, Vladimir Putin, who returned to the presidency in May after spending four years in the premier's seat due to term limits, has indicated that Russia could switch back the time soon.

Putin said in December that sticking permanently to summer time would make it difficult for TV audiences in Europe to watch the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The games — on track to be the most expensive Olympics ever, even more than the Summer Games in London and Beijing — are known to be close to Putin's heart.

On Thursday, the daily Izvestia newspaper that kowtows to Putin said the Cabinet already had made the decision to switch Russia permanently to winter time and that a decree will be issued soon.

The government quickly denied the report, and then Medvedev himself told a Cabinet session that he sees no point in switching the clock now.

"The government considers it unfeasible to again switch time at the current moment," Medvedev said, adding that public opinion has been divided. "Let's not make sharp movements and live in those conditions without making extra fuss. Let's keep monitoring the situation and once again analyze the opinion of experts, doctors and citizens."

The switch to summer time is one of the few of Medvedev's reforms that has survived Putin's return to the presidency.

Since Putin came back, most of Medvedev's initiatives — from decriminalizing slander to ousting government officials from the boards of state-controlled companies — have been methodically reversed.

Putin's harsh course has contrasted sharply with Medvedev's modernization platform. The president has backed a series of repressive bills that introduced heavy fines for those joining unsanctioned protests and imposed new tough restrictions on groups promoting democratic rights.

Opposition activists have faced searches, interrogations and arrests and three members of the Pussy Riot punk band have been sentenced to two years in prison for an anti-Putin protest in Moscow's main cathedral.

Medvedev has avoided confronting Putin and defended his patron's new tough course, but is appearing increasingly cornered and powerless despite his show of loyalty.

State-controlled television stations have reduced their coverage of his activities, and a newspaper report recently claimed that the networks had received orders from the Kremlin to cast him in a negative light and focus on his unpopular decisions, such as the time change.

The Izvestia newspaper has recently published leaks from official documents critical of the performance of Medvedev's Cabinet, prompting an angry rebuke from his office.

On Thursday, it posted a December's letter by Jean-Claude Killy, head of the International Olympic Committee's coordination panel for Sochi, suggesting that the IOC would welcome Russia's switching back to the winter time but warning that such a decision need to be made soon.

But Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, who was in Sochi for Thursday's one-year countdown to the games, told reporters the government has made the decision to stick to summer time and a schedule for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi has been made accordingly.

[Syt]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21896424

Russian police raid rights group Memorial and other NGOs

Russian police and tax inspectors have raided the offices of the human rights group Memorial and other civil society groups which get foreign funding.

Memorial is famous for documenting human rights abuses in Russia.

The US embassy in Moscow has voiced concern and asked the Russian government for an explanation.

A new Russian law says foreign-funded non-governmental groups (NGOs) linked to politics must register as "foreign agents" - a term which suggests spying.

In the worst repressions of the Soviet period the label "foreign agents" was used to denounce dissidents - or simply political rivals of Joseph Stalin - and could lead to execution.

Memorial says inspectors returned to its Moscow offices on Friday, having already seized 600 documents including accounts on Thursday.

A statement on the Memorial website said the inspections were directly linked to the new law on NGOs and the targeted groups' compliance with it.

Memorial director Arseny Roginsky, quoted by the Russian news website Vesti, said it was "a complete check on everything concerned with our sources of funding".

He insisted that the NGO law "will not change our position at all". "We won't refuse foreign donations, nor will we register as a 'foreign agent'," he said.

Pressure on NGOs
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused foreign-funded NGOs of meddling in politics on behalf of foreign powers.

Two investigative reporters from state-controlled NTV television also turned up at Memorial's offices uninvited on Thursday. Memorial complained to police, who escorted the journalists out.

Last October NTV broadcast a controversial documentary called Anatomy Of A Protest 2, which alleged that anti-Kremlin protest leaders in Russia were funded by a Georgian MP. The leaders denounced the allegations as a fabrication. NTV is owned by Russia's Gazprom gas monopoly and is seen as close to the Kremlin.

A member of the Russian presidential Human Rights Council, Pavel Chikov, said up to 2,000 organisations had been targeted with inspections and searches this month, in connection with the NGO law.

Speaking to the Associated Press news agency, he said "it goes full circle across the whole spectrum - they're trying to find as many violations as possible".

Memorial has a representative on the Human Rights Council - Sergei Krivenko. Four other groups searched by the police also have representatives on the council, the Russian news website Vedomosti reports.

The council has complained to Russian Prosecutor-General Yuri Chaika about increased checks carried out on NGOs in 13 regions.

Last September the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced it had been ordered by the Russian authorities to shut down its operations. USAID has worked in Russia for two decades, spending nearly $3bn (£1.8bn) on aid and democratic programmes.

Germany ordered in the Russian ambassador to protest. Among the targeted NGOs are two German foundations with close links to Merkel's CDU and the Social Democrats. Russian officials confiscated a number of computers to "verify the software licenses".

Meanwhile, the Social Democrat frontrunner for the German election has said in an interview that Russia can't be measured by western democratic standards, calling them a partner whoe interests Germany knows very well and should take into account. Western standards of a pluralist democracy aren't applicable to Russia he said.

[derspiess]

Meanwhile, the Social Democrat frontrunner for the German election has said in an interview that Russia can't be measured by western democratic standards, calling them a partner whoe interests Germany knows very well and should take into account. Western standards of a pluralist democracy aren't applicable to Russia he said.

Awesome.  Now is this dude from the SPD or SED?

[Syt]

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130326/germany-complains-russia-over-ngo-raids

Germany complains to Russia over NGO raids

Germany on Tuesday expressed its "concern" to the number two envoy of the Russian embassy in Berlin over fresh raids against pro-democracy NGOs as part of what activists have called a crackdown.

A foreign ministry source said the Russian diplomat Oleg Krasnitzki, second in rank behind the ambassador to Berlin, had been "invited" for a conversation at the request of Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.

"The concern of the German government in light of the concerted action against several non-governmental organisations including political foundations was conveyed to him," the source said.

In diplomatic terms, the invitation marked a clear form of protest but stopped short of a formal summons to the ministry.

The move came as the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), a political think tank with close ties to Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, said its St Petersburg offices were the target of a second search after raids last week.

It said security forces confiscated computers, citing checks for proper software licensing.

"This morning's intrusion is alarming and in no way acceptable," KAS president Hans-Gert Poettering, a former speaker of the European Parliament, said in a statement.

"This interference in our work can lead to a strain in our (diplomatic) relations with Russia."

In Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the raids, along with other measures, pointed to a trend in Russia that was "deeply troubling".

"The inspections and searches launched against the Russian NGO community and conducted on vague legal grounds are worrisome since they seem to be aimed at further undermining civil society activities in the country," she said in a statement.

The Friedrich Ebert Foundation, linked to Germany's main opposition Social Democrats (SPD), said it has faced similar treatment at its Moscow office.

Westerwelle had condemned the initial raids Friday, saying he was "very concerned" by developments.

The foreign ministry then warned Monday that further measures against German groups "could weigh on bilateral relations in a lasting way".

More than 100 NGOs including rights group Amnesty International have undergone similar checks in recent days, according to activists in Russia.

A controversial law passed in 2012 requires NGOs that have Western donors and are involved in political activities to register as "foreign agents" and display this title when carrying out any public activity.

Meanwhile Merkel's challenger in the September general election, Peer Steinbrueck of the SPD, came to Russia's defence, saying Moscow was a partner "whose interests we know well and respect".

"We need to admit in that context that our Western standards of pluralist democracy cannot be applied directly to Russia," he told the website of news weekly Die Zeit, warning against "pillorying" Moscow over rights abuses.

He said such problems were better discussed behind closed doors.

Merkel, who grew up in communist East Germany, has been an outspoken critic of a Russian clampdown on civil society under President Vladimir Putin.

Germany and Russia have extremely lucrative trade ties. Merkel and Putin will meet in the northern German city of Hanover next month at an industry fair.

[Syt]

Meanwhile, the Social Democrat frontrunner for the German election has said in an interview that Russia can't be measured by western democratic standards, calling them a partner whoe interests Germany knows very well and should take into account. Western standards of a pluralist democracy aren't applicable to Russia he said.

Awesome.  Now is this dude from the SPD or SED?

North German, born in Hamburg. He was economics minister in my home state before becoming minister president of Germany's most populous state of North-Rhine Westphalia.