Medvedev gebruikt veto tegen wet die vrijheid van betogen beperkt

Russische president Dmitri Medvedev heeft zijn veto gesteld tegen een nieuwe, door het parlement goedgekeurde wet die de vrijheid van betogen aan banden zou leggen. Het besluit van Medvedev is door oppositie en mensenrechtenverenigingen op applaus onthaald.

De goedkeuring van het wetsontwerp door de volksafvaardiging, waarin de pro-Kremlinpartijen een ruime meerderheid hebben, was bij de oppositie op zware kritiek gebotst. In de Doema zwaait Verenigd Rusland, de partij van premier Vladimir Poetin, de scepter.

De wet was op 22 oktober goedgekeurd door de Doema en op 27 oktober door de Federatieraad. Om in werking te treden was enkel nog de presidentiële handtekening nodig. Maar in een brief aan de voorzitters van beide kamers, Boris Gryzlov en Sergej Mironov, liet Medvedev weten dat hij 'de wet verwerpt'.

Volgens de president 'bevat de wet een aantal bepalingen die indruisen tegen door de grondwet gegarandeerde rechten zoals het recht op vergadering, op betogen, op staking'. 'Het houden van betogingen is een van de meest doeltreffende manieren om de activiteiten van de Staat en de plaatselijke overheden te beïnvloeden', aldus Medvedev.

bron: De Standaard

Progress in Kosovo allows for adaptation of KFOR presence

NATO has decided to adjust the KFOR presence in Kosovo. Over the next few months, KFOR will progressively reduce its presence to around 5,000 troops in total, marking one more step in the adaptation of KFOR to a deterrent presence.

The security conditions in Kosovo continue to improve, which is a positive sign not only for Kosovo, but for the whole region. Local institutions are increasingly capable of assuming responsibility for security tasks.

KFOR will remain able to deploy forces quickly and effectively whenever and wherever necessary, including with robust reserves. KFOR’s mission to guarantee a safe and secure environment in Kosovo remains unchanged.

source: NATO

Last days mayor of Moscow

The powerful mayor of Moscow, Yurij Luzhkov, has departed "on holidays" amid a smear campaign the likes of which the city has not seen since the 19990s.

Some weeks ago, the state-controlled television showed a series of documentaries alleging that Luzhkov is corrupt and abusing his power.

Julia Ioffe (FP, 17 Sep. 2010) describes the situation as follows: Yurij Luzkov is the only mayor Moscow has ever really known in the post-Soviet period, a figure whose control extends into every corner of the city's life. He is Moscow's boss, which is precisely the problem: There can only be one boss in Moscow, and his name is Vladimir Putin.

And here's the other side of that problem: Luzhkov has been in charge since before Vladimir Vladimirovich even thought of going into politics, and well before he got to Moscow. Luzhkov, on the other hand, has been helping run the city since the Soviet era. He started off as the reformist head of the Moscow city council during the perestroika years, and was appointed mayor by then President Boris Yeltsin in June 1992. But as Luzhkov brought the chaotic capital to order after the collapse of the Soviet Union, he was also put in charge of privatizing huge swaths of Moscow property -- making his real-estate developer wife (and former city council assistant 27 years his junior), Elena Baturina, Russia's wealthiest woman in the process.

Yet, as long as Luzhkov supported Putin politically, he could keep his seat. President Dmitriy Medveded, however, has been pushing Luzhkov into retirement since the beginning of his term.

Luzhkov is the final remaining "heavyweight" regional leader who has survived in power since the 1990s. Yet, according Julia Ioffe, the Kremlin cannot simply fire Luzhkov as the Luzhkov machine, woven together not only by money but by family times, is still alive and well, and the state needs it on its side. Making an enemy of Luzhkov and his army would be a disaster, especially when it comes time to vote next fall.

With the mayor now “on holidays” in Austria, some Russian analysts suspect that he and his wife might not return to Moscow, choosing a comfortable life in exile over potential court proceedings in Russia.

To be continued..

EU condemns Russian agreement with South Ossetia, Abkhazia

Russia has taken official control of the borders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in a 10-year deal with the two Georgian breakaway regions. The European Union alongside Nato and the United States have condemned the development as a breach of the 2008 Russia-Georgia peace agreement brokered by the EU. Under the new deal, Moscow extends its responsibility for patrolling the two republics' effective borders with Georgia proper. Nato called the move a "clear contravention" of the ceasefire agreement, a characterisation echoed by the US. Russia, for its part, accuses Nato of its own provocation in the region for planning military exercises in Georgia next week.

Source: EUobserver

Medvedev gives interview for Novaya Gazeta

Last week President Medvedev gave his first exclusive interview to the controversial newspaper Novaya Gazeta (which is renowned for high-profile murders of its investigative journalists, such as Anna Politkovskaya in 2006). According to Albina Kovalyova this has to been seen as one of the most eye-catching in a series of moves that could be deemed “democratic” and are meant to give some hope to Russia’s beleaguered liberal-minded constituency.

During the interview (English translation at the webpage of President Medvedev), the president was asked about the elections in Sochi, Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s trial, and the real transparency of the government member’s earnings. But in response to all of Novaya Gazeta Chief Editor Dmitry Muratov’s provocative questions, Medvedev provided vague, generalized answers. For example, when asked whether the current Khodorkovsky trial has a foreseeable result, Medvedev replied that “for members of the government and for the president, there cannot be any predictions regarding any court case, including the one that you have mentioned.” [Для государственных служащих и для президента никакой предсказуемости в любом судебном процессе, в том числе упомянутом Вами, нет и быть не должно.] When asked about the recent disclosure of government salaries (another of his recent “democratic” initiatives), the president admitted that there was no way of checking whether what government officials and their families declared was true, but restated the importance of such public disclosure. He hopes that his could eventually turn into a “tradition” that could make the government feel more responsible. “It is the first step in the right direction,” the president said.

Medvedev did not use the word “democracy” to describe the direction he wants his country to go in, but he stressed the importance of a civil society that could play an active role in Russia. This, together with his newly-proclaimed desire to build a Russian equivalent of London’s Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park, suggests that he is interested in implementing some democratic values.

It remains unclear whether Medvedev's interview for Novaya Gazeta was a political move for the benefit of the government or a genuine gesture of support for the paper. Perhaps a combination of the two, it certainly got the attention of his critics, who will now be watching for actions that will back up his vague gesture “in the right direction.”

Recount Confirms Communist Win in Moldova

On 5 April parliamentary elections took place in Moldova. The Communists won 50 percent of votes in the election, followed by the centre-right liberal Party with almost 13 percent of the votes, and the Liberal Democratic Party with 12 percent. A recount in Moldova's disputed election, ordered after violent protests against a Communist victory, have not brought any changes in the standing of parties in parliament.

Opposition parties demand a new election. They say their concern is fraud with voters' lists which they allege contain the names of dead voters and Moldovans working abroad but unable to come back into the country to vote.

The riots in Moldova puzzled a lot of Russian commentators. Even those who are usually ready to answer any question, interpreting any event in the former Soviet Union as a result of the continued rivalry between Russia and its erstwhile Western enemies, were at a loss to explain the events in Chisinau, where a crowd of angry youths seized the buildings of the parliament and the president’s residence, only to ransack and surrender them in a few hours. [see: Moldova: Worse Than a Revolution]

Voronin, Europe's only Communist leader, has long called for further integration with the West while preserving Moldova's longstanding ties with Russia. In power since 2001, he has moved closer to Moscow in recent years and praised the Kremlin's efforts at resolving an 18-year-old separatist rebellion in Russian-speaking Transdnieistria, one of the former Soviet Union's "frozen conflicts."

Sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, Moldova is Europe's poorest country and home to another frozen conflict involving Russia, in the eastern region of Transnistria, similar to the Georgian disputes with the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Some two thirds of Moldovans are of Romanian origin, speaking almost the same language. Most of Moldova's territory used to belong to Romania before the Soviet Union carved it out.

Russian interests are still very much present, as the separatist region of Transnistria, in Moldova's eastern part bordering Ukraine, is home to some 2,000 Russian troops and military equipment.

Source: EUobserver and BalkanInsight

Update [23/04/2009]: Topolanek calls for EU-led investigation in Moldova

Albania and Croatia - new NATO members

Yesterday Albania and Croatia have completed the accession process, and have joined the Alliance as members.
Since 1949, NATO’s membership has increased from 12 to 28 countries through six rounds of enlargement. Albania and Croatia, which were invited to join NATO at the Bucharest Summit in April 2008, formally became members when the accession process was completed on 1 April 2009.
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has, like Albania and Croatia, been participating in the Membership Action Plan (MAP) for a number of years to prepare for possible membership. At Bucharest, Allied leaders agreed to invite the country to become a member as soon as a mutually acceptable solution to the issue over the country’s name has been reached with Greece. A number of other important decisions concerning enlargement were taken at Bucharest. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro were invited to start Intensified Dialogues on their membership aspirations and related reforms. Allied leaders also agreed that Georgia and Ukraine – which were already engaged in an Intensified Dialogue with NATO – will become members in future.
A flag-raising ceremony marking the accession of Albania and Croatia will be held at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on April 7th.

See also: NATO enlargement