In this week’s Russian media highlights, Sergei Medvedev argues in Forbes.ru that the hooligan behavior of Russian soccer fans in many ways represents “the official policies and the collective consciousness of post-Crimea Russia.” And in an interview with Slon.ru, Mikhail Khodorkovsky discusses his plan to bring Russia back onto the democratic path. Meanwhile, in the Western media, experts discuss the Russian brain drain, the European Union’s sanctions policy, and the Kremlin’s smear campaign aimed at repealing the Magnitsky Act.
Russian soccer fans during the Euro Cup game in France. Photo: Alexander Demyanchuk / TASS
From Russia
Russia’s Hooligan Soccer Fans: Who They Represent in Marseille
Sergei Medvedev, Forbes.ru
The outrage caused by Russian soccer fans at the Euro Cup in France made headlines around the world and led to the suspended disqualification of the Russian team. Though hooliganism in soccer has “transformed into a natural area for violence and the closest analogue to a world war—all fans of all countries fight and rampage through,” this Russian case stands out. The difference, according to historian and author Sergei Medvevev, is in the way the Russian soccer fans are portrayed in the Russian media—almost as if they were national heroes—and in the support they’ve received from high-profile officials back home. Medvedev suggests that these “soccer fans in Marseille adequately represent the official policies and the collective consciousness of post-Crimea Russia.” These fans are essentially waging a hybrid war, similar to the one launched by the Kremlin in the West. And it comes as no surprise that they have turned into a single soccer “firm” (gang), since the Kremlin often engages “travesty groups that imitate power,” such as Cossacks or biker gangs. “Against the background of total simulation of the ‘public mind,’ protesting, counter-culture groups in modern Russia often become conductors of the dull official narrative [and] state patriotism, as well as [mouthpieces for] corrupted government grantees,” argues Medvedev. He concludes that it’s through these groups that Russian resentment finds an outlet and gains momentum, as the Soviet empire takes its symbolic revenge.
What the Russian Orthodox Church’s Refusal to Participate in All-Orthodox Council Means for Believers
Sergei Chapnin, Carnegie.ru
After five out of fourteen Orthodox churches, including the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), refused to participate in the All-Orthodox Council that has been in the making for 55 years, the question of whether it would even be held arose. Sergei Chapnin, a well-known Russian Orthodox writer and activist, argues that the key reasons for the split are not only theological and historical, but also political. However, at the core of the problem there is one “unexpected issue that is quite embarrassing to admit—lack of responsibility.” Chapnin writes that the refusal to participate is “the weakest and the most helpless” decision, and causes “grave damage to the authority of the Orthodox Churches and Orthodox hierarchy.” Still, Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I claimed that he would hold the council despite the absence of the five Churches—a fact that will inevitably put members of the Russian Orthodox in opposition to one another and force Patriarch Kirill of Moscow to develop his own counter-strategy. Ultimately, the situation resulted in disappointment among believers, concludes the author, as they were able to see a “whopping disunity” in the Orthodox world.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky: “We Need About 40 Million People”
Yelena Yevgraphova, Slon.ru
Slon.ru has launched a discussion on an alternative vision for a future Russia and on reform plans offered by the opposition. In the first interview of the series, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, founder of the Open Russia movement, speaks of his ideas for bringing the country back to the democratic path through free and fair elections. Khodorkovsky proposes a number of crucial changes that must be made during the transition period (which would optimally last two years), including: amending the Constitution to ensure real separation of powers; implementing judiciary reform and modernizing law-enforcement; establishing a free media system; decentralizing power and delegating maximum authority to the regions; and demonopolizing the economy. According to Khodorkovsky, implementation of this scenario would require the support of about 30 percent of Russians (or 40 million people)—the active part of the population. Also, he argues that for this two-year period, a transition government should be created—a roundtable that would include representatives of all major social groups. The goal of the roundtable is to reach consensus on key governance principles, with the expectation that experts will follow up and substantiate these agreements into legal forms. Khodorkovsky also considers a presidential-parliamentary republic (similar to the one in France) the optimal form of governance for Russia.
From the West
Russia Is Losing Its Best and Brightest
Judy Twigg, The National Interest
Judy Twigg, professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University, discusses the reasons Russia’s “creative class” is leaving the country, and highlights the implications of this exodus for Russia’s society and economy. Russian government statistics show a sharp increase in emigration over the last four years. According to a poll conducted last month by a human-resources firm, 42 percent of senior managers in local and international companies are contemplating leaving the country, and one-sixth have concrete plans to do so. The people most likely to leave are younger, more urban, more liberal, and better educated. According to Twigg, it’s not just economic stagnation that drives the outflow of “the best and the brightest.” Urban liberals are fleeing due to the unpredictable, corrupt, and often unfair political climate under Putin. The majority of Russians who emigrate are looking for safe spaces for their families and their businesses. Twigg claims that the most alarming recent trend, likely to negatively impact the science and technology sector in Russia, is the emigration of young scientists and students wanting to pursue science and technology degrees abroad. The Russian government might be delighted to say goodbye to people who are potential protestors and who don’t constitute a Putin-friendly support base, but Twigg contends that despite the short-term benefits for the government, the long-term price of this exodus is very high, because Russia’s brainpower is key to diversifying the economy and propelling the country forward.
Don’t Appease Putin
Guy Verhofstadt, Project Syndicate
Guy Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister and president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe in the European Parliament, argues that Europe should not “go soft” on Russia, and reproaches those European leaders who have recently advocated a loosening of sanctions. Instead of softening their stance and cozying up to the Kremlin, European Union leaders should make the preservation of Europe’s post-Cold War political and security architecture and the protection of European territorial integrity their top priorities. Verhofstadt believes the EU should develop even stronger measures to curb the Kremlin’s aggressive and provocative behavior. He suggests adopting new measures resembling the Magnitsky Act in the United States, which targets Russian officials responsible for human rights violations. “Such an approach would ensure that those who benefit from Putin’s crony capitalism could not launder their money and shelter their families in the West,” notes Verhofstadt. But sanctions are not enough. The U.S. and the EU should become more efficient at combating Russian propaganda—a powerful tool in the Kremlin’s “hybrid warfare” against the West. The EU should also continue to actively support civil society, students, researchers, and small- and medium-size enterprises in Russia. The only way to hold Europe together, Verhofstadt claims, is to hold firm on Russia.
Russia’s Plot to Smear Magnitsky
Karina Orlova, The American Interest
In an interview with the American Interest, William Browder, co-founder of Hermitage Capital, discusses Putin’s attempts to get the United States to repeal the Magnitsky Act—attempts that recently culminated in an anti-Magnitsky documentary directed by the Russian filmmaker Andrei Nekrasov. Browder is convinced that the film is part of a well-coordinated Federal Security Service operation orchestrated by the Kremlin and aimed at influencing policymakers in the U.S. to withdraw the Magnitsky Act, “probably the single most upsetting thing to Vladimir Putin since he came back to power.” Browder himself makes an appearance in the film. He says he agreed to talk to Nekrasov a few years ago because he was introduced to the director by Heidi Hautala, a Member of the European Parliament from Finland who was one of the first people to propose Magnitsky sanctions in Europe. Nekrasov seemed to be part of the “family of fighters against Russian evil,” Browder says, but “it was only about after the second or third question during the third interview that I realized there was something deeply wrong there.” The film turned out to be a deception. Still, Browder is confident the documentary will not change the U.S.’s stance on the Magnitsky Act: “I think that most in the State Department don’t spend a lot of time thinking of Andrei Nekrasov’s movie.”
Nini Arshakuni helped compile this week's roundup.
