TODAY: Medvedev to give state of the nation address, modernization presumed to be key theme; opposition members laud ousting of Governor Rossel; Moscow Mayor to sue opposition politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky over corruption claims. Lavrov interview on Vesti news, discusses EU, NATO, US; charges against Litvinenko witness dropped. Russia unlikely to hasten return of capital punishment. Saving tigers; Russia limits use of superlatives.
Modernization is expected to be the principal theme of the President’s state-of-the-nation address today, and specifically criticism of state corporations. Scientists have their ears pricked, hoping to hear President Medvedev talk of rejuvenating Russia’s lackluster scientific sector, says the Moscow Times. The President’s decision to dismiss Sverdlovsk strongman Eduard Rossel has been praised by opposition politicians, who say other governors should follow, some of whom have ‘outlasted Brezhnev’. Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov (arguably one such figure) has filed a defamation suit against Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party after he voiced corruption concerns about the Mayor. Zhirinovsky plans to sue back. Two Moscow police officers have gone on hunger strike after being accused of abuse of authority, a claim they say is fabricated. President Medvedev is ‘the only person in the country who has the power to remove anybody at any time’ - so why does the problem of corruption remain? asks Nikolai Zlobin in the Moscow Times.
Georgia has accused Russia of stirring tensions by detaining 5 fisherman off the Black Sea Coast. Russia has refuted statements by partners in Geneva regarding the stabilization of the situation in Georgian and South Ossetia. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko apparently claims that Russia’s Black Sea fleet jeopardizes Russia- Ukraine ties. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Russia and the US need to overcome the chill in relations established during the Bush era. Talks on the new EU-Russia are purportedly going ‘quite well’. Lavrov has criticized NATO’s enlargement, as it does ‘not take into account tectonic shifts in geopolitics on the turn of the 1990′s’.
RFE/RL reports that Tatar activist Fauzia Bayramova wishes to leave Russia because of intimidation by federal authorities for her works of activism. The Hamburg prosecutor’s office has dropped all charges against businessman Dmitry Kovtun, believed to be the main witness in the Alexander Litvinenko case. Russia is apparently likely to extend the moratorium on the death penalty. The panic provoked by swine flu, which is ‘capable of extending a presidential term!’ is the subject of Boris Kagarlitsky’s op-ed in the Moscow Times today.
Russia is making efforts to save the tiger, with a summit to design a conservation strategy for the endangered Amur species. The case against the survivors of a helicopter which crashed during alleged illegal hunting activities, killing seven government officials and leaving five surviving, may be reopened. The editor of Forbes takes us through Russia’s 7 most powerful people. The FAS cracks down on superlatives in advertising.
PHOTO: Siberian tiger. (Burt Herman / AP)
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” The action by TMM angered Moscow and led Russian officials to begin an investigation into TMM’s activities.Bayramova and her TMM colleagues were officially accused of fomenting interethnic hatred in Tatarstan. “And Russian Federal Govt is not right to do so ?The ” Prometheists ” seems to be not on the rise and she had made a step forward a bit hastly by calling senator Mac Cain for the recognition of Tatarstan !But i’m sure that the Us congress led by Mr Mac Cain is preparing a bill on that issue ……….I’don’t worry for her : She must have a good flat or house reserved in Washington DC like the other Yughur passionaria .And in 2011 or 2012 she will be certainly be awarded with the Sakharov prize .Thanks to Mr Taxpayer .
As far as i have an idea of her project of leaving Russia , it’s perhaps she understands that the ” window of opportunity ” offered by the economic crisis is closing : Many ” experts ” have ” forecasted ” that the economic crisis will ignite center-periphery tensions in Russia .Their was a rise of terrorism in the Caucasus which is certainly linked to this ” idea ” : Russian center is ” weak ” , the bear is ill and we can take advantage of this situation like in the 90′s .But as Russian economy is going better , they must see again their ” Grand Strategy ” .Their wake up will be painful .