February 29, 2008 By Citizen M

RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – Feb. 29, 2008

290208.jpgTODAY: Russia says that EU mission in Kosovo was “illegal”. The divide beween Russia’s rich and poor is increasing. Head of the electoral commission says coverage has been “unequal but fair”. Voters pressured to turn out on Sunday. Russia has made a statement at the UN Security Council meeting saying that the deployment of an EU mission in Kosovo was illegal, and that the resolution authorizing the United Nations to administer the Serb province in 1999 remains in force. One article says that Medvedev’s trip to Serbia this week could “further stoke a dangerous nationalism in response to Kosovo’s independence declaration.” One article examines the increasing divide between the wealth of Russia’s cities and the poverty of their surrounding areas. An MP for the pro-Putin United Russia party is quoted as saying, “If we combine the increas[ing gap between rich and poor] with some kind of liberal economic reforms […] it could lead to an uprising.” In another, a small-businessman says that “there are rumors predicting financial meltdowns, devaluation. People are afraid of losing their savings”.