(Moscow) It was a somber scene outside the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands as Russian people came on Saturday, the Dutch day of mourning for victims of flight MH17, to express their condolences and sorrow over the shooting down of the passenger airliner over Eastern Ukraine. It was a solemn reminder that there is often a difference between the people of a nation and the leaders of a nation.
Flags at foreign embassies across Moscow flew at half mast in solidarity with the Dutch declaration of Saturday as a day of mourning. Several touching points are worth mentioning: Some Russians wrapped themselves in Gold/Blue flags, the colours of Ukraine, and others draped themselves in the red-white-blue of the Netherlands flag.
There were small placards with flowers reading, “Простите наc” which means “forgive us.”
Compressing time zones was one thing but the Medvedev experiment with changing the clocks wasn’t popular with most Russians and as lawmakers prepare to end permanent daylight savings time, most will welcome the return. That the vote in the Duma was 442-1 shows how much Russians had complained regarding the issue. Supposedly over 70% supported the change in 2011 but today polls indicate that close to 70% want to turn back their clocks.
Moscow Kremlin’s most famous tower, the “Saviour” tower often considered as the official clock of Russia.
Changing back isn’t a done deal yet as the upper house of Parliament, the Federation Council (Senate) will take up the Duma bill on 9 July. The bill establishes that “Moscow Time” as Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) plus three hours, and time zones in Russia then based on those UTC times. Currently Moscow Time is UTC plus four hours.
The Duma bill asks that the changes be made within 30 days from passage and that could happen but likely the change will be made on Sunday, 26 October.
In 2013 the Russian Supreme Court had refused to cancel what many Russians have dubbed as “year round summer time.”
It has been awhile since we’ve done a “Word of the day” so we’ll make this a bonus day with several words for the price of one!
Яйца Бенедикт is eggs benedict, [YAI-itsyah bene-dikt].
Of course if you’re making Яйца Бенедикт (eggs benedict) you’ll want to know how to make Яйца Пашот (poached eggs), which sounds like [YAI-itsyah pa-SHOtt]. It is not “shot” so think of “show” with a t sound at the end. Stress the “SHO” sound hard.
Now that you’ve learned a unique way to poach eggs, you may want a quick tutorial on how to make Яйца Бенедикт (eggs benedict):
While taking advantage of some vacation time, we wanted to share with our readers Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to the main house of the Museum estate of one of Russia’s earliest national poets, Gavril Derzhavin, in Saint Petersburg on Friday, 20 June.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (L) at the main house of the Derzhavin Museum, accompanied by Sergei Nekrasov of the National Pushkin Museum.
Poet Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin was born near Kazan, Russia into a Tatar family of very modest means. After failing to complete high school he joined the Russian military (Preobrazhensky Guards) and rose through the ranks to eventually become an officer.
He maintained an “on, then off again political relationship with Catherine the Great but eventually became a close adviser to the Empress. He retired after serving in the cabinet of Aleksander I as Minister of Justice. Many of his poems were dedicated to members of the Royal Court.
Prime Minister Medvedev enjoys Derzhavin’s prose.
Derzhavin had a major impact on a young Aleksandr Pushkin and the Derzhavin Museum like several others, is part of the state’s Pushkin Museum holdings.You can see this estate from the River and it is open for visitors at Fontanka Naberezhnaya 118, in Saint Petersburg.
Like many other grand houses of this city, the Derzhavin house has an interesting history. Not long after his death in 1916 his wife died and was buried at his side. The couple had no children and the house was purchased by the Roman Catholic Church and a Catholic Theological College was established on the site.
Russian Prime Minster Dmitry Medvedev, Derzhavin Museum.
By 1924 the Communist Party had seized the house and it was partitioned into dozens of communal apartments like so many of the grand houses of that tragic era and converted into communal housing. As expected, its character was gradually destroyed and the house was in grave disrepair for years.
PM Medvedev planted a tree on the estate grounds.
At the close of the Soviet period the government transferred ownership to the state’s Pushkin Museum holdings in 1998 and gradually the grounds and several surrounding buildings of the estate reopened as a museum to Derzhavin’s life and work. Derzhavin was buried in the Khutyn Monastery but his body was dug up and reburied by the Soviets in the Novgorod Kremlin. After the fall of Communism his body was returned to the Khutyn Monastery.
Sitting at Derzhavin’s desk, PM Medvedev signed the Museum guest book.
Despite being anti-Semitic, which sadly was fashionable in Tsarist Russia at the time, he was an important poet and when traveling to Russia’s northern capital the Derzhavin Museum is worth a visit for the sake of history:
The Russian Duma’s Committee on Culture is recommending that Parliament pass a bill that would ban foreign words from being used in public speech or advertising.
Lawmakers representing the LDPR (Liberal Democratic Party) want to protect the purity of the Russian language, making it a crime to utter foreign words in public or for companies to use them in advertising.
According to the Moscow Times the law, if passed, would make the use of ‘linguistic imports’ punishable by a fine of up to 2,500 rubles ($73) for ordinary citizens, and up to 50,000 rubles ($1,460) for companies or organizations. What is unclear at the moment is whether the intent is to ban words and phrases such as “fat free” and “ipad” or “iphone” and branding for Western companies such as Coco Cola, McDonalds, etc.
Some linguists estimate that as much as twenty-five percent of the Russian vocabulary consists of cognates, borrowed words, and thus we doubt that the purpose of such a law truly targets foreign words as much as it seeks to ban foreign ideas. According to documents posted on the Duma’s public website, efforts to eliminate banned words would include the confiscation of books and other publications containing foreign terms.
Many of Russian language borrowed words are French such as “toilet”. Even “Cafe” as seen here in Russian Cyrillic spelling is a borrowed word.
The list of foreign or borrowed words in Russian is extensive, easily in the hundreds. Terms such as журналист (journalist), видео (video), меню (menu), секс (sex), экзамен (exam), директор (director), aлфавит (alphabet) and hundreds of others would have to disappear if the law were truly about protecting the Russian language.
If true that the real intent is to ban Western influences, then the question also looms over what would happen to hundreds of thousands of street and Metro signs that have English tranliterations in Russia’s drive to attract more tourism. Will lawmakers ban those too?
One of the most beloved features of large Russian cities and especially in places like Moscow is the famous transportation system knows as the Метро (Metro). That too is a foreign term. Would such a law cause the Metro to be renamed? No, we already know the answer to that question.
We suspect that the bill has less to do with language purity but instead is yet another thinly veiled piece of anti-Western legislation driven by the current insane frenzy of nationalistic zealotry. In fact some critics of the legislation inside Russia admit that the motivation is an attempt to isolate the Russian people from Western ideas and also to punish Western companies who do business in Russia in response to Western sanctions over the annexation of Crimea.
Just last year the same Duma committee had refused to advance similar legislation saying then that there was no need to protect the Russian language from foreign words and phrases.
It is the same old song: former Soviet Republics who want true independence and to make their own economic and political choices are pitted against a Russia that seems determined to return to the days of Soviet glory. President Putin has found that the theme plays nicely at home, at least until the economic costs come home to roost.
As Georgia and Moldova announce their intentions to sign on the dotted line to join in a trade and political pact with the European Union, Russia has warned both countries against the deal. Neither country would be joining the European Union immediately as this is an association agreement. But it is a first step toward eventual full membership in the EU.
Just so you know, this is exactly what got Ukraine in hot water. Ukraine was ready to ink an association agreement with the EU, something a majority of citizens clearly wanted, and the violent protests that began in Kyiv (Kiev) were a result of the Yanukovich government backing out of the deal after extensive guidance from Moscow. Yanukovich was ousted from office and the country is now involved in a civil war.
When Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 the breakaway Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia were recognized by Moscow as independent nations even though most of the world has refused such recognition.
For all intents and purposes Russia has already “taken” Abkhazia and South Ossetia without the inconvenience of annexation. Abkhazia for example is an economic basket case and we don’t think that Russia wants to further absorb either Abkhazia or South Ossetia due to economic costs.
Map of Abkhazia. To the top is Русский Федерация (Russian Federation) and to the bottom right is Грузия (Georgia).
Russia has recognized Abkhazian political “independence” in as far as Russia really calls the shots and just forced President Aleksandr Z. Ankvab to resign after mass protests in the tiny “nation” recently. A new election in Abkhazia is scheduled for 24 August.
At issue with Moldova is the breakaway province of Transnistria which has a large Russian-speaking minority population. In the case of Transnistria the population at last count (2009) was 550,000 if which 150,000 are Russian. The Russian Army has approximately 1200 peacekeeping troops in Transnistria.
Russia already supports both of Georgia’s breakaway republics heavily and taking on additional social and infrastructure costs at this point in time would be dangerous to the Putin government. Moscow has found a successful recipe in energizing dissent amongst the minorities of Russian-speakers in former Soviet republics and assisting and guiding their activities but allowing the locals, many of whom are poor and not well educated, to do the heavy lifting so that Russia can claim some semblance of distance from such movements.
Recently there has been a proliferation of advertising flyers around Moscow promoting seminars on how to protect personal savings and prepare for possible pension cuts due to the economic impact of annexing Crimea and Sevastopol. No matter one’s attitude on the political issue, Russians are beginning to sense that the economic costs will be heavier than at first advertised. Russian activist Alyona Popova is a speaker at some of these seminars specifically targeted to women and she has done much to improve the lot of women in small business start-ups, etc.
Some cities and regions are now showing concerns and are communicating with their Duma representatives about the prospects of budget cuts at home in order to support new territories just annexed. At this stage of the game Moscow isn’t going to swallow up Abkhazia or South Ossetia and especially not the even more severely impoverished Transnistria, as to do so would be financial suicide and perhaps even eventually usher in increased calls for regime change in mother Russia.
Do countries like Georgia and Moldova have reason to be concerned about Moscow’s warnings? Russia wouldn’t issue the warnings if they were empty threats–that is not the Putin style. The real politic is that any former Soviet member country daring to look West instead of East should be prepared to deal with the wrath of a much larger and very powerful neighbor that has clear designs on reconstituting some semblance of the region’s Soviet past.
(Analysis and Opinion) Naysayers aside, this was perhaps one of the most important and free elections in Ukraine in a long time. That is saying a lot against the backdrop of the pro-Russian separatists who kept polling stations closed in many parts of Eastern Ukraine.
We understand that there are those who believe the outcome to have been predetermined; the most oft-repeated mantra is that the US State Department arranged the result of this past weekend’s voting. This blog has never been a big fan of the US State Department, or of any US department for that matter, but we do have sufficient intelligence to see past the anti-Ukrainian fog generated in certain corners.
Generally those are the same propaganda driven folk who say that Russia has not meddled in Ukrainian affairs–an idea good for late night comedy but not very realistic.
The Moscow Times reports that the election for a new Ukrainian president generated a record turnout outside of Ukraine in places where Ukrainians were allowed to vote. Traditionally it has been possible for Ukrainian citizens to cast votes in places like Moscow and Saint Petersburg, just as in past Russian elections it was possible for Russian citizens to cast votes in designated Ukrainian cities, but turnout was very low this time. Ukrainian electoral commission staffers at the Moscow Embassy told reporters that the estimated number of Ukrainians voting in Moscow was under 700 persons pending a final count.
Meanwhile turnout was high in places like Toronto and Washington where lines of registered Ukrainian voters waited patiently for their turn to cast ballots.
(Voters in Ukraine. Photo: Ilya Varlamov)
In areas of Ukraine where pro-Russian armed bandits were prevented from disrupting the vote, lines were long but voters seemed eager to send a dual message to their own Parliament that they wanted a capable person to lead the country, but there was the unmistakable message sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin that they wanted him to get out and stay out of Ukraine.
(photo: Ilya Varlamov)
Election winners:
The Ukrainian people now at least have the opportunity for a fresh start, an open door to put the days of Maidan violence behind and to set Ukraine on a path of their own choosing.
Chocolate king Petro Poroshenko appears to have won the election in the first round and that is a good thing for Ukraine as well. The ballot had 21 candidates, and many thought a runoff would be needed for any candidate push over the 50% limit needed to win outright.
Election losers:
Vladimir Putin wasn’t on the ballot but he might as well have been. The clear sentiment in this election was anti-Russian, and very much anti-Putin, and we can only hope that over time these two countries with a shared history and culture can come to reconciliation. The Mendeleyev Journal remains committed to the idea that Ukraine and Russia should have close relations and we deplore the idea of NATO in Ukraine, for example.
The other loser was Yulia Timoshenko, the former Orange Revolution figure who at one time held great sway over many Ukrainian voters. We are glad that she has been released from prison as it was clearly a political decision to hold her behind bars. However, Yulia’s days as Ukraine’s shining light appear to be over, and voters have tired of politicians out to enrich themselves while pretending to serve the common Ukrainian struggling for a better life.
(photo: Ilya Varlamov)
Side notes:
We were raked over the coals recently in the Conservative News Service for insisting the obvious: Ukraine is a country with a one-word name and there is no need to attach a “the” in front of the name. We’re going to continue to fight this battle because it is a matter of decency and respect. In 1993 the Ukrainian Parliament asked the world via the United Nations that the world respect the name of their country. They did not wish to be considered just a region of a greater Russian Empire, as “the Ukraine” implies. Instead they are a separate country, translated as borderland in Russian but more likely as homeland in Ukrainian, and not matter how it is translated, this is a country with a name, one name: Ukraine.
Diplomatically the world has honoured that 1993 request. Journalists as a whole however have been outright discourteous, and perhaps out of ignorance, but that is no excuse and we’re going to come after them for that ignorance. If they can understand the principle rule in journalism that a local populace has the right to determine how their name is pronounced, then why the slothfulness and ignorance in regards to Ukraine? Every reporter worth his/her salt knows the difference between Lima in Peru and Lima in Ohio, for example, so why is such ignorance and disrespect allowed to continue regarding Ukraine?
What Ukrainians hope for:
It seems that Ukrainians yearn for some semblance of Western style institutions of law and order, of fairness and non-tolerance of corruption. That is a difficult task when corruption has deep roots in your own country; a value shared by the bigger neighbor next door. Both Ukraine and Russia possess thin veneers of judicial fairness over massive layers of judicial incompetence and political corruption. It is difficult to clean up your own yard when you live in such a neighborhood.
The Mendeleyev Journal hopes that Ukrainians aren’t confusing the EU with prosperity and independence. That would be a very big mistake. The EU doesn’t need nor want another impoverished Bulgaria draining their resources so we can rest easy that EU membership won’t be on the table. However we don’t put it past the EU politicians to continue dangling that carrot to use Ukraine as a way to beat up on Russia. That would be cruel as Ukrainians deserve better.
Oh, but the reality:
The international bankers are going to win at least in the short and medium term. Were the world an intelligent place we’d line them all up for an old-style execution and be done with the bastards. That isn’t going to happen however and so Ukrainians will need to get used to austerity measures while the IMF and their minions rape and pillage for awhile.
We also believe that other than reliable trading partners, the USA needs to stay out of Ukraine’s decision making processes. There is no need for another Cold War and both the USA and Russia must be held accountable. The USA must understand that Ukraine is to Russia as Canada is to the USA and if Canada and her bigger neighbor can get along without outside influence, then Ukraine must be allowed to make the same kind of independent decisions.
We hope that over time Ukraine will find her footing and grow into a prosperous nation that honours her citizens with equal opportunity and adopts fair courts, free elections, and rids herself of corrupt politicians.
No one says it will be easy and for the newly elected Petro Poroshenko and the citizens of Ukraine, the hard work is just beginning. We wish you well.
“Think of the benefits of working in Russia, don’t give in to pressure and blackmail, and we will help you.” Those were among the opening thoughts of Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking at the 18th meeting of the International Economic Forum which opened Thursday in Saint Petersburg, Russia’s northern capital.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s opening speech to the International Economic Forum.
With events in Ukraine and active lobbying by the West, this year’s theme is Sustaining Confidence in a World Undergoing Transformation and speakers lost no time in blaming the West with Mr. Putin leading the charge. Ladies and gentlemen, this is an economic forum but there is no avoiding a few words on politics. Politics influences economic processes, and in this respect I note that inability to find compromises, unwillingness to take into account partners’ lawful interests, and blunt use of pressure only add to chaos and instability and create new risks for the international community’s continued development.
What’s wrong with Mr. Putin’s logic is that he’s right.
There are those who feel that Russia has nowhere to turn but Russia is a Eurasian country, and as Mr. Putin says, “it is natural to be highly interested in the Asia-Pacific region. It is both a huge market and an important source of growth for Russia’s Far East and Eastern Siberia.”
President Putin speaking to the International Economic Forum.
However right now Russia is feeling pinched and while some 6,500 world business leaders made the trip, RT reported that attendance is sharply down and about 55% of those in attendance are from Russia. In the USA the Obama administration lobbied hard and many American companies who usually make the trip decided to stay home this year. Many German CEOs stayed home as well.
Not everyone present was a cheerleader for Mr. Putin however, including well known Russian executives. Bernard Sucher of the Russian investment bank, Anto, said that “Russia has decided to pursue a third way, which I consider an illusion. It is a fortress mentality that believes in a largely self-sufficient Russia that believes in its own path….” Sucher told the NY Times that the believed this path to be dangerous.
Round table discussions have not always been unanimous.
Ben van Beurden, Chief Executive Officer, Royal Dutch Shell told delegates to measure results by decades and not by what happens just in a year. Royal Dutch Shell is a major producer of natural gas.
Vladimir Putin also met with heads of major Russian and foreign companies and business associations at the CEO Global Summit, which is part of the St Petersburg Forum.
Over 1,700 journalists arrived for the forum and President Putin arranged for a speech by Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao. The addition of the Chinese official gave many of the delegates the impression that Russia is sending a clear signal that Russian-Sino integration is moving forward quickly.
The biggest question yesterday was whether negotiators for Russia and China could reach a deal on the price of gas. We expected the price issue to be settled before Mr. Putin returned to Moscow but at the end of the day they had not yet come to terms. These two countries have inched closer over the past years but not without lingering memories of broken agreements by both sides in the past.
It wasn’t that long ago when then-President Medvedev visited China by train, but as part of a visit to several Asian countries Mr. Putin’s delegation arrived by air in Shanghai where Mr. Putin told Chinese journalists that “Russia firmly places China at the top of its foreign trade partners.”
President Putin’s arrival in Shanghai.
Russia and China have forged a close partnership over the past decade but this was Mr. Putin’s first visit to China since President Xi Jinping took office.
The visit came as China hosted a summit of Asian states representing almost 40 countries including the leaders of Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Cambodia. President Putin met with several Asian leaders including President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai during the summit.
Russian and Chinese delegations were introduced during opening ceremonies.
During the meetings Mr. Putin said, “It would be no exaggeration if I said that the co-operation between our two countries is at its highest level in history.”
Ceremonies for President Putin’s arrival in China.
Chinese President China Xi Jinping was expected to announce a gas deal between the two countries whereby Russia’s state-owned Gazprom would supply China’s National Petroleum Corporation with natural gas. The delegations worked on a plan that could last over the next 30 years.
Chinese-Russian trade meetings were restricted to delegation members and staff only.
Although the two-day visit was filled with meetings for President Putin, a delegation of Russia’s best energy experts accompanied the President for the trip to Shanghai.
The China trip also gave Mr. Putin the opportunity to sit down separately with with former President of China Jiang Zemin and with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
At the outset of their meeting Secretary-General Ki-moon expressed his condolences on the train collision which injured at least 45 passengers and killed 6 persons at last report. The accident happened near Naro-Fominsk, southwest of Moscow when a freight train crashed into a passenger train. Mr. Putin has been in communication with Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry regarding the accident.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attended the Asian security summit where at the conclusion Chinese President Xi is expected to make announcements on Asian security.
Presidents Xi Jinping and Putin inspect Chinese Naval forces.
The two countries are conducting joint Naval maneuvers and Russian forces began arriving in Shanghai on May 18 for the exercises scheduled from May 20-26 in the East China Sea.
In a statement the Russian Defense Ministry said that a total of 12 vessels are participating. The Russian Navy is represented by the Varyag missile cruiser, the Admiral Panteleyev large anti-submarine ship, the Bystry destroyer, the Admiral Nevelsky large amphibious ship, the Ilim mid-size sea tanker and Kalar sea tug. China is represented by three destroyers, two patrol ships and a comprehensive supply ship for the exercises. The Defense Ministry indicated that Su-30MK2 aircraft and Ka-27 helicopters will also be participate in drills to locate and identify targets, perform air defense operations and naval target practice.
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