Putin exploits patriotism and WW2 memories to establish his fifth columns abroad
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ВЕНА, 9 мая — РИА Новости, Андрей Золотов. Акция "Бессмертный полк" впервые прошла в субботу у памятника советскому воину-освободителю в Вене. Десятки российских соотечественников из Австрии и некоторых соседних стран прошли маршем с портретами своих предков, советских солдат, и остановились у памятника в полдень по местному времени.
Акция органично вписалась в ставший уже традиционным в этот день неформальный сбор российских соотечественников на площади Шварценбергплац, где уже в августе 1945 года был установлен монумент победоносной Советской армии. В этот день сюда приходят сотни живущих или оказавшихся в эти дни в Австрии россиян и граждан других постсоветских государств, они кладут цветы к венкам, возложенным накануне дипломатическими представительствами и официальными делегациями.
Перед тем, как колонна акции "Бессмертный полк" приблизилась к монументу и была выключена аудиозапись песни "День Победы", сотни стоявших здесь соотечественников сами хором допели ее до конца.
После минуты молчания под аплодисменты и крики "Ура" участников акции поздравил с Днем Победы ныне живущий в Австрии участник боев за Вену Владимир Располыхин. Он рассказал, как накануне вместе с президентом Австрии Хайнцом Фишером участвовал в церемонии возложения венка у советского воинского захоронения на Центральном кладбище.
Затем микрофон взяла Мадина Аскеева из Казахстана, державшая в руках фотографию своего отца, который погиб в апреле 1945 года в 50 километрах от Вены. "Когда отца забрали в армию, мне было четыре года, я не знала слова "папа", но в 70-летие Победы мои дети привезли меня сюда, я побыла у памятника, где написаны его фамилия и имя в поселке Эрлих недалеко отсюда. Спасибо австрийскому народу, который сохраняет этот памятник", — сказала она.
Ирина Пашагич с дочерью и Елена Шиканич с портретами своих дедов и прадедов приехали для участия в акции "Бессмертный полк" из соседней Словении. "Я долго ничего не знала о своем дедушке, знала только, что он погиб, освобождая Белоруссию, а сейчас все эти сведения появились, открылись", — сказала Пашагич. Память о деде и двоюродном деде и желание передать память следующему поколению подвигла их участвовать в акции, говорит Пашагич. "Вторая причина — просто отдать дань тем воинам, которые положили свои жизни и прошли этот длинный путь войны", — сказала она.
Народные гуляния и выступления хоровых коллективов, вокальных ансамблей и чтецов у памятника на Шварценбергплац будут продолжаться до вечера. А фестиваль "Хоровая Вена", участники которого, включая хор "Молодые голоса" из Перми, выступают в субботу у памятника, продолжится в предстоящие дни в нескольких церквях и концертных залах австрийской столицы.
История Дня Победы
9 мая в России отмечается всенародный праздник — День Победы в Великой Отечественной войне 1941-1945 годов.
Великая Отечественная война началась на рассвете 22 июня 1941 года, когда фашистская Германия напала на Советский Союз. На ее стороне выступили Румыния, Италия, 23 июня к ним присоединились Словакия, 25 июня — Финляндия, 27 июня — Венгрия, 16 августа — Норвегия.
Война длилась почти четыре года и стала самым крупным вооруженным столкновением в истории человечества. Читайте подробнее >>
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BERKELEY – If the world should have learned one thing from the recent months of tensions between Russia and the West, it is that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strategic ambition and skill should never be underestimated. It is in this light that the West should view Putin’s recent overtures to some within the European Union.
Putin may or may not truly believe that last year’s anti-Russian uprising in Ukraine was the direct result of interference by the United States and the European Union. But there can be no doubting his awareness of the role that European ideals – and the possibility of EU membership – has played in motivating the struggle in Ukraine and constraining his actions.
The popular desire to join Europe’s community of democratic states was a key force behind the collapse of right-wing dictatorships in Greece, Spain, and Portugal in the 1970s. It also played a critical role in the collapse of communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall. And it certainly contributed to the ouster of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych – a key Putin ally – in 2014. Indeed, the existence of a European model continues to guide and encourage those pursuing transparent, democratic governance in many post-communist countries.
There is no question that Putin would benefit from the EU’s demise. Europe’s attractiveness as a model of democratic governance would be greatly weakened. Aspiring EU member states would turn elsewhere. Indeed, some current EU members, such as Hungary, where Euroskepticism and illiberal sentiment are already widespread, might be tempted to follow Putin down the path toward authoritarian rule. And countries in the region would be more exposed to Russian pressure and the temptations of Russian patronage.
Putin knows this, which is why the Kremlin has been reaching out to Euroskeptic parties and groups from both extremes of the political spectrum. In some cases, Russia may have actually provided financial assistance to these groups. In November, for example, Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right National Front, acknowledged that her party received a €9 million ($11 million) loan from a Russian state-owned bank.
Meanwhile, Russian oligarchs have been purchasing European newspapers, including The Independent, The Evening Standard, and France-Soir. The French newspaper Libération recently highlighted the extent of pro-Putin connections in French academia, think tanks (on both the left and the right), media, and business networks. And the state-owned energy giant Gazprom has been suspected of bankrolling anti-fracking activism in Lithuania and Romania.
Putin’s efforts appear to be bearing fruit. Despite the ongoing tensions between Russia and the West – or perhaps because of them – Putin enjoys remarkable support among some European intellectuals and politicians. The Kremlin’s portrayals of the uprising in Ukraine as a fascist coup, and of Russia’s annexation of Crimea and support for Ukrainian separatists as defensive, have been reproduced through a dense network of Putin supporters – including the Princeton University professor Stephen F. Cohen, Czech President Miloš Zeman, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the German leftist Matthias Platzeck, and the Dutch rightist Geert Wilders – and media outlets.
Putin’s narrative may be reminiscent of Soviet propaganda. But that has not prevented it from being embraced by many at a time when the European project is already under great stress from the continent’s economic crisis.
A battle of values is looming. In one corner is the EU, standing for democracy, freedom, the rule of law, and institutionalized international cooperation; in the other stands Putin, representing authoritarianism, intolerance, and the use of force and intimidation as instruments of foreign policy.
Unfortunately, the European establishment is not doing enough to counter Moscow’s anti-European, divide-and-rule offensive. That is particularly true in Berlin, where the German government continues to promote austerity in the eurozone in the face of anemic economic growth and widespread unemployment.
If Putin has indeed set out to destroy the EU, such an approach is the best way to help him. Europe is in desperate need of growth, and achieving it will require bold leadership from the EU’s most important member state, Germany, and its most important leader, Chancellor Angela Merkel. The German public must be made to understand what is at stake – and why continuing on the current path could end up delivering the EU into Putin’s hands.
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If the world should have learned one thing from the recent months of tensions between Russia and the West, it is that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strategic ambition and skill should never be underestimated. It is in this light that the West should view Putin’s recent overtures to some within the European Union.
Putin may or may not truly believe that last year’s anti-Russian uprising in Ukraine was the direct result of interference by the United States and the European Union. But there can be no doubting his awareness of the role that European ideals — and the possibility of EU membership — has played in motivating the struggle in Ukraine and constraining his actions.
The popular desire to join Europe’s community of democratic states was a key force behind the collapse of right-wing dictatorships in Greece, Spain, and Portugal in the 1970s. It also played a critical role in the collapse of communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall. And it certainly contributed to the ouster of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych — a key Putin ally — in 2014.
Indeed, the existence of a European model continues to guide and encourage those pursuing transparent, democratic governance in many post-communist countries.
There is no question that Putin would benefit from the EU’s demise. Europe’s attractiveness as a model of democratic governance would be greatly weakened. Aspiring EU member states would turn elsewhere. Indeed, some current EU members, such as Hungary, where Euroskepticism and illiberal sentiment are already widespread, might be tempted to follow Putin down the path toward authoritarian rule. And countries in the region would be more exposed to Russian pressure and the temptations of Russian patronage.
Putin knows this, which is why the Kremlin has been reaching out to Euroskeptic parties and groups from both extremes of the political spectrum. In some cases, Russia may have actually provided financial assistance to these groups. In November, for example, Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right National Front, acknowledged that her party received a €9 million ($11 million) loan from a Russian state-owned bank.
Meanwhile, Russian oligarchs have been purchasing European newspapers, including The Independent, The Evening Standard, and France-Soir. The French newspaper Libération recently highlighted the extent of pro-Putin connections in French academia, think tanks (on both the left and the right), media, and business networks. And the state-owned energy giant Gazprom has been suspected of bankrolling anti-fracking activism in Lithuania and Romania.
Putin’s efforts appear to be bearing fruit. Despite the ongoing tensions between Russia and the West — or perhaps because of them — Putin enjoys remarkable support among some European intellectuals and politicians. The Kremlin’s portrayals of the uprising in Ukraine as a fascist coup, and of Russia’s annexation of Crimea and support for Ukrainian separatists as defensive, have been reproduced through a dense network of Putin supporters — including the Princeton University professor Stephen F. Cohen, Czech President Miloš Zeman, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the German leftist Matthias Platzeck, and the Dutch rightist Geert Wilders — and media outlets.
Putin’s narrative may be reminiscent of Soviet propaganda. But that has not prevented it from being embraced by many at a time when the European project is already under great stress from the continent’s economic crisis.
A battle of values is looming. In one corner is the EU, standing for democracy, freedom, the rule of law and institutionalized international cooperation; in the other stands Putin, representing authoritarianism, intolerance, and the use of force and intimidation as instruments of foreign policy.
Unfortunately, the European establishment is not doing enough to counter Moscow’s anti-European, divide-and-rule offensive. That is particularly true in Berlin, where the German government continues to promote austerity in the eurozone in the face of anemic economic growth and widespread unemployment.
If Putin has indeed set out to destroy the EU, such an approach is the best way to help him. Europe is in desperate need of growth, and achieving it will require bold leadership from the EU’s most important member state, Germany, and its most important leader, Chancellor Angela Merkel. The German public must be made to understand what is at stake — and why continuing on the current path could end up delivering the EU into Putin’s hands.
Yuriy Gorodnichenko is a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley. Gérard Roland is a professor of economics and political science at the University of California, Berkeley. Edward W. Walker is a professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley, and executive director of the Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies. © Project Syndicate, 2015.
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When Russian President Vladimir Putin uses military force to menace Ukraine’s democracy and seize chunks of its territory, when he uses authoritarian laws to crack down on homosexuals and minorities and imprison dissidents, there are those among us, including a record number of elected politicians, who cheer.
A generation ago, Moscow’s fans and enablers would have all been on the far left. Today, with the exception of a marginal group of leftists motivated by anti-Americanism, Mr. Putin’s cheerleaders are all conservatives – some in the United States and Canada, and a record number who have just come to power in Europe.
Last week’s European Parliament elections saw a record number of Putin-admiring and Putin-emulating parties elected to Brussels. Some of these parties are anti-European Union, some are anti-immigrant, some are outright racist and anti-Semitic. They don’t tend to get along with one another, but one thing that unites them is an outspoken admiration for Mr. Putin.
Nigel Farage, the leader of the suddenly powerful United Kingdom Independence Party, used a magazine interview during the campaign to praise the Russian President, calling him the world leader he most admires. “Compared with the kids who run foreign policy in this country, I’ve more respect for him than our lot,” he said at a public event.
In words widely reported in the Russian media, he added that the EU has “blood on its hands” for supporting the democracy movement in Ukraine. Rather than posing a threat to Europe, Mr. Farage said, Russia has fallen prey to Europe’s “activist, militarist and expansionist foreign policy.”
Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s National Front (which sent the lion’s share of French representatives to Brussels) is an even greater admirer. “I think he puts the interests of Russia and the Russian people first, so in this regard, I have the same amount of respect for him as for Ms. Merkel,” Ms. Le Pen said this week, adding that “a lot of things are said about Russia because for years it has been demonized on U.S. orders.” She, like her comrades across Europe, wants to end sanctions against Russia and restore “traditional, friendly” relations.
Geert Wilders, the mop-haired head of the Freedom Party in the Netherlands, has blamed the conflict in eastern Ukraine not on Russia but on “shameless Europhiles with their dreams of empire.” Ukraine’s democracy movement and the pro-European government it elected last week, he said, are run by “National Socialists, Jew-haters and other anti-democrats.” (In fact, extreme-right and anti-Semitic parties attracted about 2 per cent of the vote in the recent Ukrainian election.)
In the minds of such politicians, Europe’s response to Moscow’s incursions hasn’t been slow and mild; it’s been excessive. “We have always been told the European Union stands for peace,” Mr. Wilders said. “Now, we know better – the EU stands for war-mongering.”
These Westerners aren’t backing Mr. Putin out of pure Russophilia. Rather, they admire his embrace of a Christian and mono-ethnic identity for greater Russia, and his aggressive action against what they see as their enemies: European diversity and open borders, and minority groups – especially homosexuals and Muslims. Like them, Mr. Putin embraces the old conspiracy holding that Muslims are secretly plotting to take over Europe, a key plank for these parties.
That’s why North American right-wing anti-immigration activists, generally affiliated with the Republican Party and the right fringe of Canada’s Conservatives, have rushed to back Mr. Putin and the European parties that admire him.
American anti-Muslim activist Robert Spencer made a point of appearing on the Russia Today network (shortly after most of its American staff had quit and denounced it as a Kremlin propaganda outlet) to attack the United States and endorse Mr. Putin’s approach toward Muslim minorities. “Barack Obama is somebody who has been embarrassed on the world stage by Vladimir Putin more than once,” Mr. Spencer said.
And Ezra Levant, the right-wing pundit with Canada’s Sun Media, cheered France’s National Front, Britain’s UKIP and the other Putin-backing parties for their European election victories, praising their embrace of Putinist ideas: “The EU’s de facto abolition of borders … has let millions of migrants move from the poorer parts of the EU to the richer ones,” he explained, warning of “mass Islamic immigration that contains large elements refusing to accept Western, liberal values.”
Their victory is, he said, “a rejection of Obamaism, and a return to common sense, national conservatism. You could say it’s a bit of Stephen Harperism.”
To be fair, Mr. Harper has never endorsed such ideas. It is actually a bit of Vladimir Putinism.
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