Window On Eurasia: Most of Russia’s Citizens Seeking Asylum Abroad Are From Its Own War Zone – The North Caucasus
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posted by eagle on March, 2009 as Imperialism
Paul Goble
Vienna, March 27 – Only Somalis and Iraqis whose countries are enmeshed in military conflicts sought political asylum abroad more frequently in 2008 than did citizens of the Russian Federation, but Moscow officials say that most of the Russian citizens who did so were from the North Caucasus, Russia’s very own war zone. Moscow media are giving prominent attention to a UN report showing that 20,477 Russians sought political asylum in other countries in 2008, nine percent more than a year earlier, and a national figure exceeded only by Iraq (with more than 40,000 applications) and Somalia (22,000) (www.sobkorr.ru/news/49CB270DED645.html). Nearly a third of Russians who took this step sought political asylum in Poland (6647), another third between France and Austria (3579 and 3426 respectively), with the remainder scattered primarily ... >> full
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Window On Eurasia: Putin Has Left Russia Without Friends In The Region, Moscow Commentator Says
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posted by eagle on as Imperialism
Paul Goble
Vienna, March 27 – Vladimir Putin because of his hatred for Ukraine, Estonia, and Georgia has managed to leave Russia without any allies in the former Soviet space, a remarkable performance and one that means Moscow now must try to intimidate these countries to get its way or yield to others in ways many Russians would fine offensive. This is a remarkable performance, Vladimir Nadein points out in today’s “Yezhednevny zhurnal,” one that is almost unprecedented. “Even Hitler,” even when it was obvious that he was losing the war “retained allies up to the end of 1944. But Putin, after ten years of uninterrupted rule doesn’t have any” (www.ej.ru/?a=note&id=8926). Instead of following “the first rule of ancient diplomacy: assemble around oneself more friends and thus destroy more quickly the coalition of enemies, Putin has ... >> full
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Window on Eurasia: Moscow is ‘Losing’ the Russian Far East, Journalist Says
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posted by eagle on as Imperialism
Paul Goble
Vienna, March 27 – Having held on to the Far East during the Russian Civil War and during the wild 1990s, Moscow is now “losing” that enormous region because of “the idiocy of bureaucrats” in the center who pay attention to it only when there is “a flood, earthquake, volcano eruption or visit by the president or prime minister,” a Russian commentator says. In an article in today’s “Novaya gazeta,” Yekaterina Glikman argues that because of Moscow’s neglect in most cases and foolish actions in others, just about the only thing that the Russian Far East has “in common” with Moscow is “the Russian language” -- and that is “too little to make one feel part of a single country” (www.novayagazeta.ru/data/2009/031/00.html). This process, she says, is likely to accelerate when a new directive of the Federal Customs ... >> full
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Window On Eurasia: Moscow Uncertain How To React To ‘New Russian Separatism’
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posted by eagle on as Imperialism
Paul Goble
Vienna, March 25 – Separatist ideas are increasingly appearing in predominantly ethnic Russian regions, fueled by growing anger at the Russian government’s failure to cope with the current economic crisis and the anti-Moscow feelings that have long been a feature of many of these far-flung areas. Unlike “the parade of sovereignties” in which the non-Russian republics participated at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, Andrey Serenko writes in today’s “Nezacisimaya gazeta,” this new trend is affecting many of the far larger number of ethnically Russian dominated areas (www.ng.ru/politics/2009-03-25/3_kartblansh.html). And both that trend in predominantly Russian areas and the specific forms it has taken are presenting the leadership in Moscow with a challenge that no one at the top of the Russian political system seems to fully understand or to have figured out ... >> full
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Window On Eurasia: Bashkir Leader Decries Moscow’s ‘Instrumental’ Approach To Federalism
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posted by eagle on as Imperialism
Paul Goble
Vienna, March 25 – In a speech that either represents his swansong or lays down a new agenda for the leaders of the regions and republics of the Russian Federation, Bashkir President Murtaza Rakhimov has denounced Moscow’s “instrumentalist” approach to federalism, an approach which violates both the Russian Constitution and the center’s promises to the people. Last weekend, Rakhimov, 75, who is on the short list of many analysts of regional officials likely to be dismissed in the near future, delivered a major speech at an Ufa conference on the 90th anniversary of the formation of his republic attacking Moscow’s approach to federalism (www.bashkortostan.ru/president/activity/index.php?ELEMENT_ID=19662). Moscow analysts have been discussing his remarks solely in terms of what his speech portend for Rakhimov’s future and for that of other senior regional leaders like Moscow’s Yury Luzhkov and Tatarstan’s Mintimir Shaimiyev ... >> full
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