“Russia, a European problem”

A large demonstration, albeit smaller than expected, marched through the streets of Moscow on March 1st in memory of Boris Nemtsov, former vice-Premier under Eltsin, who had become a fierce opponent of Russian President Putin. Maria Przelomiec, Professor at Warsaw University, among the most renowned expert of East-European affairs, drew an outline of the situation in Russia with Anna Kowalewska for SIR Europe. Przelomiec is an opinion-leader of Polish Catholic press, for the past ten years she has been hosting a TV programme devoted to the “Eastern lung” of the European continent. Professor, who was Boris Nemtsov? Was he such a relevant figure in Russia? “He was one of Putin’s most active and visible opponents in Russia. I met him a few months ago during an international conference on democracy in Russia. Knowing that he was one of the greatest enemies of the Crelim, I asked him if he feared for his life. He told me that as ex-member of Eltsin’s government he felt relatively safe. He was a prominent economist and an expert in the problems of the energy market, capable of exposing all the flaws of the official propaganda on the economic situation in Russia and for this reason he was considered inconvenient by the regime”. In your opinion why was he eliminated? “Official explanations seem very hard to believe. I think that Putin cannot be considered unrelated to the murder – which occurred in front of the Kremlin on a Friday evening – of a man constantly guarded by secret agents. The press office of the President denies all responsibilities. In their opinion Nemtsov’s murder was against the Russian president, but knowing the internal situation in Country this explanation appears ungrounded. Nemtsov’s death shows that in Russia those who dare harshly criticise the Kremlin as he did cannot feel safe. Putin sees himself like a ‘godfather’ of national politics and he couldn’t afford being publically damaged by Nemtsov without loosing credibility…” Nemtsov recently said that he was once at the “opposition” while he recently felt like a “dissident”. What is the role of democratic opposition in today’s Russia? “In Putin’s Russia there is no democratic opposition nor freedom of the press. Nemtsov was constantly attacked by official media, that disseminated hatred and accusations against the opposition. Those who dare criticize the authorities are labelled as enemies of the Russian population, posing a threat to the Holy Rus’ which – according to Russian leadership – has a special mission to carry out as it is considered the only bastion against the putrid features of the European Union and the only bearer of true values”. Some analysts hold that Putin enjoys the support of 85% of the population, who evidently believe in State propaganda. Will something change after Nemtsov’s death? “It’s hard to predict what will happen after Nemtsov’s death, but I must say that 50 thousand people that took part in Moscow’s demonstration after the murder are a small signal. In 2012 the protest marches against Putin held with Nemtsov’s contribution, were attended by 200 thousand people. On that occasion Nemtsov announced that the demonstration against the intervention in Ukraine planned by him for March 1st was expected to bring 100 thousand people in the streets. Thus only half of expected participants protested against his murder, while in small towns demonstrators were the targets of the launch of rotten vegetables”. Nemtsov announced the publication of a report with evidence that the Russian soldiers took part in the war in the South-East of Ukraine since the outbreak of the strife. Could his death impact the situation in Ukraine? “Probably the report on Russia’s role in the Ukrainian crisis will be published despite the fact that the police, that entered Nemtsov’s home immediately after the murder, brought away all the documents and the computer. In fact, there may exist copies of that report handed over to friends and thus the document should also be made public. However, I believe that the situation in Ukraine will change only when the West will be convinced that Putin’s Russia poses a danger not only for Ukraine but also for Europe as a whole. In my opinion, Nemtsov’s death represents further evidence that Putin is politically unpredictable, and ready to do anything”.