20.04.2005
“Worries” on duty

Russia is considered a test case of President George W. Bush’s vow to make democracy central to Washington’s relations. Rights activists complain Washington has been too tolerant of Russia’s backsliding on democracy, for fear of losing Putin’s cooperation on Bush’s top priority, the war on terrorism. Although Condoleezza Rice made some of the sharpest U.S. criticism to date of the Kremlin’s record on democracy at the start of a visit to Moscow.

Russian President Putin’s efforts to amass power and control television broadcasts are «very worrying» trends that have undermined Russian democracy, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday. Rice said she saw some bright signs, including nascent efforts to form political parties to vie for the presidency when Putin’s term runs out in three years, and said she understood that it was a «very complicated task» to govern Russia. But «there is no doubt that when we talk about the trends, the trends have not been positive," she said.

Rice’s comments reflect US officials’ growing unease with Russia’s increasingly fragile democracy. President Bush pledged in his inaugural address this year to confront «every ruler and every nation» about internal repression, but Bush and his aides generally have publicly muted those concerns about Russia.

During a summit in Bratislava, Putin declared that Russia had «made its choice in favor of democracy," and Bush, having looked into “friend Vladimir’s eyes” again, appeared to accept his word. But Rice indicated that she planned to prod Russian officials more directly in two key areas — the crumbling of independent power bases and the crackdown against independent television news outlets — that have characterized Putin’s tenure. However, she did not mention Chechnya probably also for fear of losing Russia’s cooperation on Washington’s top priority, the war on terrorism.

«The centralization of state power in the presidency at the expense of countervailing institutions like the Duma or an independent judiciary is clearly very worrying," Rice said, referring by name to the lower house of Russia’s parliament. «The absence of an independent media on the electronic side is clearly very worrying."

Rice said it was difficult to achieve the right balance of political freedom while «managing this big and broad place that ranges over 10 or 11 time zones." But the former Soviet specialist added that the concentration of power should not begin to «mimic the Soviet state."

Rice also warned Moscow that its role as chair of a meeting of the exclusive Group of Eight industrialized democracies next year will require it to demonstrate a commitment to democracy. Key lawmakers on Capitol Hill have introduced legislation to suspend Russia from participation in the G-8 because, they say, it is no longer a democracy.

«Moscow should make every effort to convince the world that they understand those responsibilities that attend inclusion in organizations such as the G-8," Rice said. She said the G-8 was intended to be a «a group of democracies» committed to «free-market principles, free trade, the rule of law."

Freedom House, a U.S.-funded group that promotes liberty around the world, says the Russian government has tried to stifle civic activism while Putin has attacked non-governmental organizations as not serving the interests of Russian society. «One of the things we talk about is treatment of NGOs that are trying to promote that path," Rice said, referring to democracy.
The Chechen Times
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