Problems to be solved

There is no peace in Eastern Europe. After the Berlin Wall collapsed in November 1989, the former states of the Soviet Union seemed rapidly set on the course for democracy, national reconciliation, economic development and social prosperity. The process of rapprochement with the EU would, it was thought, accelerate the reforms and reinsert on the international scene the Republics formed by the implosion of the USSR. But the events of recent months, and even those now in the news, show a rather different situation. DEMOCRACY AT RISK. The presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G8 in Heiligendamm (Germany, 6-8 June) is an embarrassment to various protagonists. German Chancellor ANGELA MERKEL , current chairperson of the G8 and of the EU, has already expressed her “doubts about the political action of Moscow” during the bilateral summit with Russia in mid-May. Many problems remain to be solved: the current standoff with Poland in a trade dispute; that with Estonia following the removal of the monument to a Soviet soldier (a propaganda “vehicle” of the Communist regime, according to the Estonians); the fraught relation with Latvia due to the conditions to which the Russian minority has allegedly been reduced. Nor can the delicate relations with other regions of the former USSR, such as Chechnya and Georgia, be underestimated. Then there is the issue of human rights in Russia (it’s enough to recall the cases of disappearances and assassinations that have involved journalists, political opponents, and former collaborators of the secret services). The fronts opened between Russia and Europe and the West also concern the “space shield” that the USA would like to deploy in Eastern Europe using bases in Poland and the Czech Republic, energy policy, and differing approaches to geopolitical hot potatoes like Iraq, Iran, Kosovo, or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. With regard to the planned installation of American missiles in Poland to realize “a defence system against rogue states” (to use the expression of GEORGE W. BUSH ), Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN has gone so far as to declare: “in that case we will re-calibrate our missiles to target them at Europe”, evoking the danger of “a new world conflict”. TOWARDS THE ELECTIONS. “So many people in my country are on the side of President Putin: it’s obvious. The Kremlin controls most of the media. If President Bush could do the same in America, the opinion polls would be all in his favour”, comments the Russian GARRY KASPAROV , famous for having long been the world chess champion, and for several years actively involved in the politics of his country. Invited to Strasbourg by the President of the European Parliament Poettering, Kasparov launched a campaign at the end of May for the presidential election in March 2008 with the coalition called “The Other Russia”. HANS-GERT POETTERING felt it was his duty to point out that “the EU Parliament is neither for nor against Putin and does not support any party in the forthcoming electoral contest in Russia. But our duty as MEPs – Poettering continued – is always to align ourselves on the side of democracy, which we see being threatened in Moscow today”. Kasparov was arrested in mid-April for having participated in a public demonstration and on 18 May was detained at the airport of the Russian capital as he was about to board a plane for Samara, where the EU-Russia summit was about to be held. “In our country – he explains – fundamental rights are not respected and human rights are in danger”. “According to the propaganda of President Putin, everything is just fine in Russia. But we have a grave economic and social crisis – explains the opposition exponent, though he too has a not always limpid political past behind him -. I think that from next autumn on there will be a bitter clash at the summit of power that will lead to a crisis of the regime: in fact Putin’s successor in the Kremlin will have to be chosen. We will try to involve citizens with a clear programme. And we in turn will need a credible candidate”. EASTERN EUROPE IN FERMENT. Apart from Russia, a long list of the delicate political, economic and social situations to the east of the former “iron curtain” could be compiled. In the Poland of the Kacinski twins the EU has more than once pointed out attitudes risky for democracy and the violation of fundamental rights. Brussels, too, finds it difficult to tolerate the attitude of Warsaw which tends to obstruct the constitutional process, as well as to complicate partnership relations with Moscow. Yet more serious seems the conflict in Ukraine between President Yushenko and Prime Minister Yanukovich: in recent weeks the army has even been mobilized, raising the spectre of a coup d’état and civil war. The flimsy accord reached between the two contenders to call new general elections in September does not disguise a widespread feeling of discontent in the country, very far from the recent euphoria of the “orange revolution”. If we further cite the cases of many Balkan states and the last dictatorship still present in Europe, i.e. Belarus, we can begin to gain a more tangible picture of how far Eastern Europe still needs to go to reach the heart of democratic Europe.