MOSCOW -- Dmitry Medvedev gave his first interview to a Russian newspaper as president, choosing a sharply critical publication whose staff has been targeted with murders and harassment. Mr. Medvedev spoke with Novaya Gazeta editor Dmitry Muratov on Monday for more than an hour at the president's residence outside Moscow. Topics ranged from democracy in Russia to the latest criminal trial of jailed oil and banking tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Mr. Medvedev's choice of Novaya Gazeta -- a paper that specializes in investigative journalism and has criticized the growth of Kremlin control over politics and media -- contrasts with the practice of Vladimir Putin, who generally blacklisted critical publications in his eight years as president. It appears to be Mr. Medvedev's latest effort to strike a liberal pose in the rarefied world of Kremlin politics. Kremlin spokeswoman Natalya Timakova said Mr. Medvedev chose to meet with Novaya Gazeta because after the deaths of journalists on its staff, "the president wanted to express his moral support. It was his initiative." She said Mr. Medvedev has decided to meet with newspapers more in the future. (...) Four of Novaya Gazeta's reporters have been murdered or died under mysterious circumstances over the past nine years, with the latest death in January. In 2006, Mr. Putin called the shooting death of the newspaper's reporter Anna Politkovskaya an "unacceptable crime that cannot go unpunished," but famously added that "her ability to influence political life in Russia was extremely insignificant."
Mr. Medvedev spoke with Novaya Gazeta editor Dmitry Muratov on Monday for more than an hour at the president's residence outside Moscow. Topics ranged from democracy in Russia to the latest criminal trial of jailed oil and banking tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Mr. Medvedev's choice of Novaya Gazeta -- a paper that specializes in investigative journalism and has criticized the growth of Kremlin control over politics and media -- contrasts with the practice of Vladimir Putin, who generally blacklisted critical publications in his eight years as president. It appears to be Mr. Medvedev's latest effort to strike a liberal pose in the rarefied world of Kremlin politics.
Kremlin spokeswoman Natalya Timakova said Mr. Medvedev chose to meet with Novaya Gazeta because after the deaths of journalists on its staff, "the president wanted to express his moral support. It was his initiative." She said Mr. Medvedev has decided to meet with newspapers more in the future.
(...)
Four of Novaya Gazeta's reporters have been murdered or died under mysterious circumstances over the past nine years, with the latest death in January. In 2006, Mr. Putin called the shooting death of the newspaper's reporter Anna Politkovskaya an "unacceptable crime that cannot go unpunished," but famously added that "her ability to influence political life in Russia was extremely insignificant."
Here's the interview, in English: http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2009/04/13/2258_type82916_215119.shtml "Talking nonsense is the sole privilege mankind possesses over the other organisms." -Dostoevsky
President of Russia
MURATOV): I wanted to start with general issues, but some are more urgent. It might be better to cancel the election in Sochi rather than to imitate it Imitation is more cynical than abolition. Candidate Lebedev was barred from the election by a court, and candidate Nemtsov is kept away from campaigning. PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA DMITRY MEDVEDEV: I do not yet know who was expelled and how, but in any case a full-fledged political struggle is taking place in Sochi. It is good that different political forces are participating in it. In my opinion, many municipal elections suffer from monotony, a lack of interesting candidates, and as a result are uninteresting. It is true that people almost always vote for intelligible politicians rather than popular stars, but the more striking these events are the better it is for our electoral system, for democracy in Russia. Now regarding the specific circumstances: in every election there will always be candidates who lose, candidates that are taken off the ballot, and this is the case everywhere in the world. But in general I believe that such public campaigns are good for democracy. NOVAYA GAZETA: On April 15 you will host the Presidential Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights Council. I was glad to see that the members list includes intelligent and decent people. Alexander Auzan, Alexey Simonov, Svetlana Sorokina, Elena Panfilova, Igor Yurgens, Irina Yasina, and I have not listed them all. Do I understand that today civil society is more important to you then that of "plainclothes men"? DMITRY MEDVEDEV: You know, civil society is a category that we have not fully absorbed in Russia. Throughout the world civil society is the flip side of the state. The state is not only a political machine, it is also a form of organising life in society, one that is based on state power and relies on the law, while civil society is the human dimension of any state. Though its members are governed by state legislation they often act according to human laws that, incidentally, do not always have a legal form. Still quite recently, many people did not understand the words civil society. A state is more or less clear. But what is civil society? A society of citizens? So we are all citizens of our country. And now there is the understanding that civil society is an integral non-governmental institution in any state. An institution that provides feedback. The organisations of people who do not hold office, but are nevertheless actively involved in the life of their country. Therefore meetings and contacts between the President and representatives of civil society are indispensable. Let me emphasise: these relations are not easy for any authority, because all members of civil society and representatives of human rights organisations have a huge number of issues to raise with the government and leaders. They have a lot of questions, and these are questions the authorities do not always want to answer. But that is why such contacts must be systematic, including contacts within the framework of the Council you mentioned. I expect that this will be an interesting conversation. It will likely be hard, but therein lies its value. NOVAYA GAZETA: For a few years now there has been an unspoken contract between state and society (or, more precisely, the majority of society): the state provides a given level of comfort and well-being, and in exchange society remains loyal to the state. DMITRY MEDVEDEV: You mean "democracy in exchange for prosperity" or, say, "sausages in exchange for freedom"?
MURATOV): I wanted to start with general issues, but some are more urgent. It might be better to cancel the election in Sochi rather than to imitate it Imitation is more cynical than abolition. Candidate Lebedev was barred from the election by a court, and candidate Nemtsov is kept away from campaigning.
PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA DMITRY MEDVEDEV: I do not yet know who was expelled and how, but in any case a full-fledged political struggle is taking place in Sochi. It is good that different political forces are participating in it. In my opinion, many municipal elections suffer from monotony, a lack of interesting candidates, and as a result are uninteresting.
It is true that people almost always vote for intelligible politicians rather than popular stars, but the more striking these events are the better it is for our electoral system, for democracy in Russia.
Now regarding the specific circumstances: in every election there will always be candidates who lose, candidates that are taken off the ballot, and this is the case everywhere in the world.
But in general I believe that such public campaigns are good for democracy.
NOVAYA GAZETA: On April 15 you will host the Presidential Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights Council. I was glad to see that the members list includes intelligent and decent people. Alexander Auzan, Alexey Simonov, Svetlana Sorokina, Elena Panfilova, Igor Yurgens, Irina Yasina, and I have not listed them all. Do I understand that today civil society is more important to you then that of "plainclothes men"?
DMITRY MEDVEDEV: You know, civil society is a category that we have not fully absorbed in Russia. Throughout the world civil society is the flip side of the state. The state is not only a political machine, it is also a form of organising life in society, one that is based on state power and relies on the law, while civil society is the human dimension of any state. Though its members are governed by state legislation they often act according to human laws that, incidentally, do not always have a legal form. Still quite recently, many people did not understand the words civil society. A state is more or less clear. But what is civil society? A society of citizens? So we are all citizens of our country. And now there is the understanding that civil society is an integral non-governmental institution in any state. An institution that provides feedback. The organisations of people who do not hold office, but are nevertheless actively involved in the life of their country.
Therefore meetings and contacts between the President and representatives of civil society are indispensable. Let me emphasise: these relations are not easy for any authority, because all members of civil society and representatives of human rights organisations have a huge number of issues to raise with the government and leaders. They have a lot of questions, and these are questions the authorities do not always want to answer. But that is why such contacts must be systematic, including contacts within the framework of the Council you mentioned. I expect that this will be an interesting conversation. It will likely be hard, but therein lies its value.
NOVAYA GAZETA: For a few years now there has been an unspoken contract between state and society (or, more precisely, the majority of society): the state provides a given level of comfort and well-being, and in exchange society remains loyal to the state.
DMITRY MEDVEDEV: You mean "democracy in exchange for prosperity" or, say, "sausages in exchange for freedom"?
i can see why he and obama liked each other. ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
