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What the camera doesn't see...
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11 March, 2010, 01:52 Traditionally-critical Sweden still taps into business prospects in Russia
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Sitting in Russia’s White House press-room and waiting for Putin and the Swedish prime minister to meet, Swedish journalists didn’t at once figure out what playing cards were doing on the tables there. As time went by and local reporters made themselves comfortable in a time-killing game, the Swedes sensed conspiracy: “Ha, Russians stretch time because they want our prime minister to miss the meeting with Russian human rights groups”. Of course, the Swedish media worker had no idea that almost every meeting with PM Putin comes with a delay, anyway the journalist was most probably joking, but the joke itself in a way reflects the Swedes’ attitude. Sweden is one of Europe’s No. 1 Russia-bashers.
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A Swedish Prime minister hadn’t been to Russia for ten years. Just two years ago their foreign minister, Karl Bildt, compared Russia’s actions in South Ossetia to what Hitler did to Central Europe… It seemed political relations could get no worse. But here they are now, the same Karl Bildt and his boss sitting down with Putin to talk business and co-operation. Mostly business. Pragmatics to the core, Swedes know how to do business. Russia is only learning to be pragmatic. Putin says thank you for Nord Stream (Sweden has recently agreed to Russian-German gas pipe passing through its waters); he welcomes Swedish business in Russia (mentioning IKEA of course, Tetrapak, Volvo and other brands offering Swedish comfort on Russian market)… It all looks nice and friendly. Russia definitely is not the best country in the world for Sweden, but - as one of my Scandinavian colleagues put it - it’s a huge market. Almost next door. And apparently Sweden is not going to ignore that (trade between the states in the last crisis year was worth around 6 billion dollars)…
While I was watching the meeting, I couldn’t help thinking about Sweden and its success as a welfare state… (even the global economic crisis was just a breeze for them, compared to the storm it brought in many other countries). A little bit off the topic, but anyway…
There’s actually a lot to learn from Sweden: Sweden does not live off its natural resources, it’s selling ideas, comfort of living is their religion. If you go to Sweden you’ll immediately see that. For hundreds of years these people were focused on their welfare, nothing else but their welfare. Now a lot of countries go to bed and dream of waking up being Sweden. The question is, why Russia can’t all of a sudden wake up Sweden. For two hundred years Sweden has lived without war. They never took part in World War II. They were internationally pinched for not taking a stance against the Nazis, but they just ignored the moral battle, they gave up their global ambitions and focused on welfare. The moral assessment of Swedish neutrality is ambiguous but that’s a separate discussion. Back to Russia, the Soviet Union lost almost THIRTY million people in that war. Plus staggering numbers after the revolution of 1917, add to that the destructive communist ideology about everything belonging to everyone and no one – ideology that stood for years and spoiled the mentality of more than one generation, plus the country’s enormous size… yes, I guess Russia can’t wake up and be Sweden. It must have its own way. Russia is in the 21st century but still can’t get over its 20th century tragedies – so big is the scar, still bleeding (in terms of demography and lost traditions). But… there’s nothing that time can’t heal, right?
Gayane Chichakyan, RT
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10 March, 2010, 21:59 My recent TV experience: People are complaining and it's good
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A Russian news network is now broadcasting live conferences with different regions – their MPs, community leaders, just local residents. They all go online to talk about their problems with the head of parliament. The skype format naturally looked awful but the idea in itself is great! And it was interesting to watch! Because whatever subject they touched upon stirred a passionate discussion. The top issue was the raise of tariffs on communal services throughout the country – in some regions the raise was pretty drastic – around 50 percent starting in January. There were lots of complaints – grounded arguments… And I was so glad (I know it’s going to sound weird) that people are complaining! Loud and clear. And it’s being broadcast live! These skype-quality conferences (however bad they may look) could bring some kind of transparency and public interest into the social welfare sphere. Not much good comes out when a country’s thorniest problems are being discussed only in kitchens and government cabinets, and not on major networks.
Gayane Chichakyan, RT
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04 March, 2010, 01:13 What DOES Putin think about when he’s looking at the ceiling?
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Hours and hours of waiting. That's part of the job - part of my new job.
They chose two people from our reporters' team to be attached to the Prime Minister. I was one of the lucky pair. Well, now my luck is in waiting....
Actually that's exactly the reason why I'm writing this. Because I have nothing else to do. The staff made us turn off all our beeping gadgets. I’m in this gilded, absolutely amazing hall, at a government house that is meant to showcase power. It’s all about power in this country. It always was about power. Even the interior of orthodox churches was designed to evoke awe, to show what a beautiful place heaven must be and how mighty God is.
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In just a few minutes (or hours), one of the most powerful men in the country will walk into this opulent room. His cameo alone satisfies the crowds - it means the waiting is over. He probably has thousands of things to take care of in just one day. That’s why the moment I first saw Putin I had one thought: I’m glad I’m not him. I would explode under the pressure. Yesterday we waited almost five hours for him to appear at the country’s leading aircraft producer’s headquarters in Moscow. He’d been to Ingushetia while we’d been waiting for him at Sukhoi. Then he had obviously had a meeting at the Moscow airport upon his arrival, and THEN he made it to the Sukhoi design bureau.
That man is made of steel. And here he is today, coming into the room with the Croatian lady prime minister on his right. They stood behind two chairs while ministers from the two countries took turns to sit there and sign mutually bonding documents. Meanwhile, I had this fear I could all of a sudden stand up and blurt out something. Anything… like “Have you ever been distracted by thoughts of a woman while at work,” “Has anything EVER distracted you?” I don’t think so. I could borrow some of his concentration skills during my livers. He’s so focused.
Well, thank God, I was a good girl, sitting still and silent in the far end of the golden hall. Meanwhile, the government big shots signed three documents. One of them on Croatia joining the South Stream project, the big fat pipeline that will presumably beat Nabucco. Grand project by Gazprom and Italian Eni. Now Croatia wants a piece of it too, following Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Serbia and Slovenia. Now Russian and Croatian PMs sit down to make their official we’ve-had-a-very-constructive-meeting statements. When Putin started speaking, my thrill was gone, I calmed down. There it was - his familiar confident TV voice saying what great prospects Croatia and Russia have together. When it was Croatian Jadranka Kosor’s turn, she made sure that it was a long and solid speech. Putin listened. His attention is focused on the ceiling. What is he thinking about?... Does he find the ornament beautiful, too much? He could be picturing the South Stream flowing through the south of Europe and pumping billions of dollars/euros/rubles back to Russia…
I guess that’s one of the biggest enigmas of this country: what is HE thinking about when looking at the ceiling? Well, it could be that he’s just trying to avoid eye contact. After all, he’s the center of attention, wherever he goes. Or maybe… he was thinking “what an interesting name – Jadranka”… There must be a way of addressing her lovingly. Jada, Drunka… Must be a riddle for her significant one.
Gayane Chichakyan, RT
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03 April, 2010, 12:19
Ole,
You speak of Russia as if it invaded Georgia in 2008, when even the EU will admit, and BBC went on to issue an "exclusive revelation" that it was Georgia who was the aggressor, as opposed to Russia. I suggest you avoid your anti-Russian bias when trying to make a point.
24 March, 2010, 01:06
The Swedish Empire vs. the Russian Empre, when? The Great Northern War (1700–1721), Tsar Peter vs. King Charles XII and when it was over ... the Hat's Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743), and finally Gustav III's Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790) ... and then suddenly 200 years of peace thereafter even during Soviet times.
But who were Rurik Dynasty and the latter Kievan Rus, they were YOU my friends, they were Varangians who settled the Don, the Volga, etc. ... the Scandinavian traders called `Rus' and centered in Novgorod, the state that later included territories stretching south to the Black Sea, east to Volga, and west to the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the ninth century the capital of the Rus became Kiev - a polity that is widely considered THE factual predecessor peoples of three modern East Slavic nations of Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians.
The RF and the Scandanavian lands need to be at peace w/one another and again learn from another and manage the Arctic w/Norway, Finland and Denmark. If Finland and the RF can make-up and get over actions before Operation Barbarossa, then there is every chance the Great Northern Powers can offset an unstable EU and the Neo-Liberal Expansionism of the US w/proxy wars in the South Caucasus!
20 March, 2010, 04:56
Russia will be more like Sweden in the future as it will have to take a "neutral" stance between the 1.3 Tr. people China and the 500 million people European Union. Russiaa just represents 10% of China´s population, almost similar to Sweden compared to Russia (7%)
So Russia will look for its own welfare in the future without taking place in Wars between Eastern and Western Powers. If the U.S. leads NATO towards a War against China, North Korea, Iran or any other nation....the Russian Federation will not take part, will be a neutral country like Sweden in WWI and WWII...
In fact, it is what has happened during the last decade in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea. Russia has supported a peaceful solution to the problem and has used its means trying to get a peaceful solution, but has not undertaken an unnecessary use of force which would be expensive and without financial returns.
18 March, 2010, 13:53
Really Funny Jokes.
If Russia really was into land grabbing then South Ossetia and Abkhazia could have been given the simple ultimatum... join the Russian Federation or we will leave you to the Georgians.
Instead they get independence.
The Abkhazian princedom was once part of the medieval Georgian kingdom and later became a protectorate of the Ottoman (Turkish) empire. Most of the Abkhaz converted to Islam. In the early nineteenth century, Russian troops displaced the Turks from the South Caucasus and on February 17, 1810 Abkhazia became a Russian protectorate. Until 1864, Russian rule in Abkhazia was nominal, but after suppressing resistance by Chechen, Dagestani and Circassian Muslim rebels in the North Caucasus, Abkhazia was brutally annexed and its autonomy abolished. The Abkhaz rebelled in 1866 and in 1877 – 1878, were supported by Turkish troops during a war with Russia that ended in Turkish defeat in 1878. The Russian military victories were followed by the massive slaughter of the Circassian and Abkhaz population, followed by ethnic cleansing of survivors forcefully sent by sea to Turkey. The cleansed lands were resettled by Russians. That is how Sochi – the capital of the Winter Olympics in 2014 – became a Russian city. Some 90 percent of the Abkhaz population were either killed or forcibly exiled by the Russians and their loyal Georgian auxiliaries (www.newtimes.ru, February 25, 2008).
The Russian strategy is for the forward deployed troops to engage the Georgians in any crisis, while massive reinforcements arrive and overrun the enemy. Abkhazian and South Ossetian formations may be used as auxiliaries. This renders the Russian positions potentially vulnerable. The Georgians are free to relocate forces from the West (facing Abkhazia) to the East to face South Ossetia, while Russian forward positioned troops with their weapons are bogged down in each enclave. The precarious situation may partially explain Russian paranoia – the constant accusations of “Georgians preparing a new aggression” (Kommersant, December 25, 2009). It would seem prudent from the point of view of Russian military and political planners not to sit and wait for the opposition to choose a time and weather of their convenience to possibly attack, but to take the initiative, mobilize air, land and sea forces in advance at a time of their choice. Russian forces could break out of the seclusion of their present enclaves to dominate again the entire former Soviet South Caucasus, also reducing the reliance on Abkhazian and
Ossetian whims.
18 March, 2010, 05:07
Gayane, the west is not a monolithic block.
Technically the west includes Albania and Poland and Latvia right now.
The Russians becoming friends with such countries is a complete waste of time and energy.
Let the economic ties do the job.
There is no history of friendship with the west for Russia even before communism, I doubt there could be a future of friendship.
As mentioned above, international politics actually means there is no real friendship.
If it was in their interests even the US would drop the UK in a heartbeat and vice versa.
It is not about friends, it is about interests and while Russias interests do not match the interests of the west there will be rivalry.
To date most Americans see Russia as an aggressive land grabbing undemocratic power, which is rather ironic considering its best buddy is Britain(one of the most successful colonial powers of europe) and of course the fact that the US has invaded more countries in the last 100 years than any other country has.
Talk about how evil Russia is in the west and you will hear about the exploits of a certain Georgian whose initials are JS.
It seems Russia today is guilty of the crimes of Stalin in the 30s, and 40s.
Ironic because it was the Soviets that suffered under Stalin more than any other group and now it is used to demonise who they are now.
Especially Ironic with the Guantanimo Gulag still in operation and western relations with Communist China actually pretty good.
If Russia really was into land grabbing then South Ossetia and Abkhazia could have been given the simple ultimatum... join the Russian Federation or we will leave you to the Georgians.
Instead they get independence.
What I am basically saying is that Russia will not get genuine friendship from the entire west. Greece and France and Germany, the Russians can probably get on quite well with. Most of the rest has a chip on its shoulder and an axe to grind.
18 March, 2010, 04:24
Interestingly enough, one day before Imedi TV showed its fake report, the Russian Internet publication Segodnia.ru published an interview with the Russian military expert Zaur Alborov. In the interview, which was promptly reprinted by “official website” of the occupational regime in Tskhinvali, Osinform.ru, Alborov called for “a preventive [Russian] military operation to demilitarize Georgia by force.” The objectives of the operation, in his view, must be “arrest or liquidation of the leadership…of Georgia’s military and security forces…irreparable damage to the forces of the adversary…elimination or capture of the armament of Georgia’s armed forces and destruction of Georgia’s military infrastructure.” And this is just one characteristic example of belligerent views expressed by Russian experts and politicians.
Apparently, Imedi TV’s bogus newscast is based on the knowledge of all of this, reflecting the sentiments voiced in Russia. On the one hand, admittedly, the Georgian television’s show was awkwardly presented and the sequence in the scenario it subscribed to could just be a vague imagination. On the other hand though, there was a real Russian invasion two years ago and given its failure to produce regime change in Georgia and thwart the country’s pro-Western orientation, any new invasion to “finish the job” is highly probable if permissible international and domestic conditions are created by Moscow. The bogus newscast could also be seen as a warning by the TV channel whose producers might have some additional and highly confidential knowledge with which ordinary citizens
of Georgia are not familiar.
http://jamestownfoundation.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-russian-invasion-of-georgia-is-it.html
17 March, 2010, 14:28
That's politics. One day you are argue and the next shake hands. It is good that Russia is meeting with Sweden, and it is good that they meet with other countries too. We all have to respect each others boundaries, and have civil international relationships in the meantime. For all the independence we have in each country, we also are very much interdependent. An oxymoron, I know.
17 March, 2010, 02:21
GarryB, I don't think that Russia should keep itself 'separate from the west', as you put it, but I DO agree that it should focus on trade.
16 March, 2010, 09:54
Screw the charm offensive.
Russia is next to Europe and good relations benefit both, but there can be no integration of Russia into Europe any more than there could be true integration of Turkey into the EU.
I would suggest Russia does not bother with any wasted effort to become the nice guy to Europe... it didn't work for Yeltsin and he signed everything put in front of him.
The west invested money in the 1990s in Russia but it was mostly because they wanted pieces of Russia.
Now they are just sour that all they got back from their "investment" was money, rather than money generating assets at bargain basement prices.
Russia should keep itself separate from the west and just focus on trade.
That includes trade with Europe but should also include trade with Africa and Asia and North, Central and South America.
Russia can learn from Europe but it can also learn from a myriad of other countries around the world.
I would suggest that Russias relationship with India is rather more valuable than Russias relationship with Europe and there are plenty of other countries out there who would love to increase their international trade without conditions or any charm offensive required.
16 March, 2010, 00:58
"Sweden is one of Europe’s No. 1 Russia-bashers"
Spent many years in Sweden I can't see any signal from politician or people to bash Russia. There had been historical bumps with submarines from USSR, Shut down of a Swedish signal intel plane on international water and some small stuff. But in general Sweden is very open and positive to Russsia in most ways. Sweden don't agree with Russian super-power style and military build up. There would be much more gain if stop play big brother and start over all contacts from zero and join and integrate with Europe on brother/sisters level. We have much in common and if Russia changed the language Russia would fast become a big power in europe. Now I think people see russian as the brother moved way and stay in the cold. Sweden sure is closer to west but there are zero talk or thinking of value russian as enemy.
The difference we have in west is the that we question power and if people think Swedes bash Russia its nothing compare to how the question of own goverment in sweden or even EC and Usa. The open dialog, transparant and openess made sweden to stable economy with flavor of socialism. I think people pick just a letter in the setence to make propaganda to the own market .. So the more powertalk card played on the table the more question and critic will be returned. its no bash or hate its just care . See how the dialog in EC are against each other .. the dialog is tense and hot but in the end we are european and Humans. So understand the critic isnt bashing and dont listen the old conservative that still live in the cold war mentality. But a matter than will be hard to accept for swedes if there is hidden agenda or relation to ilegal economy.
I belive Sweden would be a incredible partner for russia to enter Europe. Am myself working with online media and would love move to Moscow to build a platform for meeting and exchange. I see incredible possiblities in exchange investment, business, touirsm, educations and energy and much more. Specially when Usa in area of area shown failure that destroy Swedish economy. From missmanagement of car companies like Saab and Volvo to playing bad when Sweded try to sell its fighter jet Saab Gripen.
Lars
lars.svensson@msn.com
13 March, 2010, 20:31
'a charm offensive':)) I like that
13 March, 2010, 12:57
Russia and the EU have a brilliant future in common if they can define a common social democratic system of government and work together. People need to be educated to see 'capital' as a useful tool for social welfare rather than the driving force of society as Anglo-American economics would have it. The use of capital needs close regulation. Capital is essential for large-scale projects that benefit society as a whole but unconstrained it is destructive. Recent American and UK corporate and banking experience demonstrates this. The Swedes and other Scandinavians have a better conception of the use of capital for the good of their countries rather than as a device for the enrichment of a few. Russia needs to do a lot of work to overcome perceptions in the EU that were built up during the Soviet era and still serve as a basis for Russia-bashing. Russians don't understand this. A charm offensive and a lot of positive information is needed or Russia will lose the EU to vested American interests that are already well entrenched and solidly anti-Russian.