State Duma – praag.org

‘Another Cold War won’t happen’

Yet another Cold War will not come about and Western sanctions are not dreadful to Russia, Vyacheslav Nikonov, a member of the State Duma lower house of the Russian parliament, points out in an article published in Rossiyskaya Gazeta on Wednesday.

The article, which deals with Russia’s stance in the light of the situation in Ukraine and threats of sanctions from the West, has been published under the headline “A Brief Telegram: Don’t Overstrain Yourself”.

“Yet another Cold War will not happen, the times have changed. The West is not a zone of economic growth any longer. It is, rather, a zone of stagnation,” Nikonov writes in reply to the article of Michael McFaul, US former Ambassador to Moscow, published in The New York Times on Monday.

Nikonov writes that only some 30 years ago the West accounted for 80% of global GDP, whereas now they account perceptibly for less than a half. “The European Union (EU) is yet to grow for another decade to reach out again to the indicators of 2007. In a couple of years, China will become a major economy in the world, getting ahead of the United States,” the MP points out.

Touching upon possible sanctions against Russia, he maintains that in present-day conditions efforts to isolate Russia would fail. “Its isolation does not work at all, even within its closest circle G7 where far from all share the radicalism of (Barack) Obama and of his chief expert on Russia (Michael) McFaul. Exclusion of Russia from G8 only deprives the Group of the leftovers of its significance,” Nikonov is convinced.

He recalls that the EU is one-third dependent on Russia-supplied energy, whereas Russia consumes one-third of European imports. “Are the Western constituents prepared to find themselves in another deep crisis due to the expression of the will of people in Crimea? Obviously not,” Nikonov writes.

Meanwhile, in his view, efforts to turn Ukraine into a showcase of prosperity and democracy will fail.

“The EU is not in a position to help even its own members Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, etc. Will it be able to help Ukraine, too? No way! An Association Agreement will signify not only a loss of (Ukraine’s) ‘nezalezhnost’ (independence) but an economic collapse as well,” the MP believes.

He points out that Russia, by bringing Crimea back, “has overcome the paralysis of will, and political apathy”.
Nikonov believes that Russia will not allow drawing itself into confrontation, “which the US ex-Ambassador calls for”.

Source: ITAR-TASS

Pussy Riot saga ends happily

A member of punk rock band Pussy Riot, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, who was kept at the Krasnoyarsk prison hospital, was set free, her husband Pyotr Verzilov tweeted.

Tolokonnikova, like another member of the group, Maria Alyokhina, who was also released on December 23rd, was pardoned in connection with the 20th anniversary of the Russian Constitution. The State Duma decided to release those convicted of hooliganism.

Pyotr Verzilov wrote on his Twitter that Tolokonnikova intended to facilitate the dismissal of the Chief of the Federal Penitentiary Service in the Republic of Mordovia, General Simchenkov. Tolokonnikova served a part of her sentenced at Correctional Colony No. 14 in Mordovia, where she went on a hunger strike, claiming that the administration of the colony threatened to kill her. She claimed that her human rights were violated and complained of intolerable conditions for prisoners. Tolokonnikova described her claims in an open letter.

Maria Alyokhina, Ekaterina Samutsevich and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were detained in March 2012. On August 17, 2012, the activists were sentenced to two years in prison for their “punk prayer” at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The women were convicted of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. The activists said they did not intend to offend believers, but wanted to draw people’s attention to close ties between the state and the church. On October 10, 2012, Ekaterina Samutsevich’s sentenced was changed to conditional one. – pravda.ru

Russia to vote on bill that bans informing children that gay people exist

More than two dozen activists were detained in Moscow on Tuesday as they were protesting a bill that stigmatizes the gay community and bans the giving of information about homosexuality to children.

The protesters attempted to rally outside the Russian State Duma before what is expected to be a final vote on the bill banning “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations.”

Police moved in after supporters of the bill started showering the protesters with eggs and water. Some of the protesters who were not detained were viciously attacked by masked men on a central street a mile away.

The Kremlin-backed legislation imposes hefty fines for providing information about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community to minors or holding gay pride rallies.

Russia is also considering banning citizens of countries that allow same-sex marriage from adopting Russian children.

Lawmakers changed the wording of “homosexual propaganda” to “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations,” which backers of the bill define as “relations which are not conducive to procreation.”

Breaching the law carries a fine of up to 5,000 rubles ($156) for an individual and up to 1 million rubles ($31,000) for media.

Earlier Tuesday a dozen anti-gay activists picketed the Duma. One of them held a poster that read: “Lawmakers, protect the people from perverts!”

The bill has been seen as Putin’s attempt to consolidate his support base which includes many conservative Russian Orthodox voters.

Russian and foreign rights activists have decried the bill as violating basic rights. Human Rights Watch on Monday said the bill would “infringe Russian citizens’ freedom of expression and information, and discriminate against Russia’s LGBT community.”

Russian officials have rejected criticism. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov defended the bill in February, saying that Russia does not have any international or European commitment to “allow propaganda of homosexuality.”

Russia decriminalized homosexuality in 1993 but anti-gay sentiment is still high. – AP