December 15, 2009 By Citizen M

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – Dec 15, 2009

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TODAY: Medvedev celebrates Sakharov, activists say their work is more dangerous now; European Security Treaty ‘smacks of a trap’; tiny island recognizes breakaway states in exchange for aid; NATO chief in Moscow to rebuild relations; fire safety watchdog shuts down 54 clubs; Putin criticized over decree endangering Soviet-era architecture.
Dmitry Medvedev has celebrated the legacy of the late human rights campaigner, Andrei Sakharov, ‘in sharp contrast to Putin‘, but Russia’s activists say that the president has not addressed specific issues that have been brought to his attention in the past year, including citizens’ rights to protest peacefully.  Meanwhile, at a conference to mark Sakharov’s death, former Soviet dissidents said that their work is more dangerous now than it was in the final decades of communism.  The fine print of Medvedev’s proposed European Security Treaty ‘smacks of a trap‘, and suggests that ‘Moscow would essentially gain veto power over NATO,‘ writes Alexander Golts.  The 8 miles squared island of Nauru says it will recognize Georgia’s breakaway republics, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.  The Guardian says that the Kremlin has been ‘frantic to secure international recognition for both regions,‘ and reports that Nauru’s decision comes hand in hand with an agreement under which Russia will provide it with $50 million in humanitarian aid.  The Other Russia puts it more bluntly.