Germany & Russia

Lots of things to do

2009-08-12T00:46:00.000-07:00

Well, what should we say. Zarema Sadulayeva, head of a charity for victims of the Chechen wars, has been found shot dead, along with her husband, Alik Dzhabrailov. This happened just a few weeks after the brutal murder of another Chechen human rights activist Natalya Estemirova.

As usual, there will be no traces of the perpetrators, no big outcry in mainland Russia, no disruption of public and political life in Chechnya. It does not help either that all victims were not really politically active but involved in human rights activities and charities.

“They just helped disabled children and children from poor families.”, as Lyudmila Alekseyeva of the Moscow Helsinki rights group put it. So sad, so true.

So what to do, where to look? We decided to turn our head northward and look for guidance from Russia's president: On his webpage, the news section tells us that the president did ..:

Aug 11th

Dmitry Medvedev held talks with President of Finland Tarja Halonen
Dmitry Medvedev send his condolences to President of Slovakia
Dmitry Medvedev sent a message to participants of Great Patriotic War veterans' round table “No one is forgotten. Nothing is forgotten.”
Dmitry Mededev sent a message to Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko

Aug 10th

Dmitry Medvedev met with the leaders of political parties represented in the State Duma
Dmitry Medvedev submitted to the State Duma a draft law establishing a legal mechanism allowing the President to use Russian Armed Forces in operations beyond the country's borders
Dmitry Medvedev submitted to the State Duma a draft law providing for eligibility of candidates to local self-government bodies from the age of 18

Aug 8th

Dmitry Medvedev made a visit to North Ossetia

Aug 7th

Dmitry Medvedev held a meeting with permanent members of the Security Council
Dmitry Medvedev instructed Prosecutor General Yury Chaika and Presidential Aide and Director of the Presidential Control Directorate Konstantin Chuychenko to carry out comprehensive checks into the activities of state corporations
On the eve of the first anniversary of the Georgian invasion of South Ossetia, Dmitry Medvedev met with the authors of the film 'In August of 2008' and shared his recollections of the events in the night of the aggression and the response measures taken by Russia, as well as told about his recent visit to Tskhinval

Aug 6th

Dmitry Medvedev met with Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill
Dmitry Medvedev held a meeting on traffic safety

Now, do not get us wrong. We understand that the Russian president is a very busy man.

German culture comes to Siberia

2009-03-13T00:59:00.000-07:00

Today, the third Goethe-Institut in Russia opens in Novosibirsk. After Moscow and St. Petersburg, the decision to move the supply of German culture to where demand is high seems only logical. It is said that nearly 2 million individuals are currently learning the language of Goethe and Kant in Russia and that German is the second most important foreign language after English in the country.

At the same time a German-Russian culture festival starts its shows and events in Siberia, the sibSTANCIJA_09. Concerts, exhibitions and even a blogger party (for which we have not been invited!) will try to promote what actually needs little lobby in Siberia, German culture.
The blogger party can be tracked at Sibirskij-Blog, a temporary spinn-off from the portal to4ka-treff.de.

We are happy that both the Goethe-Institut and the festival happen, finally there are some positive signs from the Siberian province.

Karl Schlögel gets the Leipzig Book Award for European Understanding 2009

2009-03-12T01:44:00.000-07:00

We saw it coming. Karl Schlögel moves up the food chain of public recognition and finds a wider audience when being awarded the Leipzig Book Award for European Understanding 2009.

In his book on Moscow around the year 1937 he puts the Stalinist repression in perspective to Russia's self understanding, culture and society - a blend of despotism gone national renaissance (watch a video interview with him by DW TV here). This comes at a time when Orlando Figes just published his account of the Sowjet terror in the book "The Whisperers", a protocol of private life and drama.

When checking the Russian News Agency RIA Novosti, you will find neither of the two authors mentioned - why are we not surprised at all about this?

Markelov & Baburova next journalist victims

2009-01-27T00:24:00.000-08:00

(As seen in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the biggest German daily, end of January 2009)

The astonishing thing actually was the age. Almost 35 years old only and 26. And already on the hit list of Russian political assassinations. And again the same pattern as always - general attorneys who have no sense of injustice and whose pressure to find out about the facts of the murderers remembers one of gas pipelines deep down in Ukraine, a very mild public awareness and low attendance at the funeral (probably due to the fact, that the ordinary Russian hardly did get news about this), and most familiar a public outroar over the killings so loud you can actually hear a needle fall in the Kremlin.

And the most stunning fact of all is, as often said, that Russian officials and the government do not regard voices like Markelov and Baburova as the biggest assets this country has but still as a threat or a cough you have to get rid of. When will this synapse finally connect?

Endless talking and a hotspur

2008-10-07T04:30:00.000-07:00

The 8th "Petersburger Dialog", a discussion forum on German-Russian relations happend in St. Petersburg a few days ago. The motto of this year's get together, which was attended by both Mrs. Merkel and Mr. Medvedev (albeit the meeting was kept rather short and Merkel did not plan to stay overnight, like during previous occasions), was "Russia and Germany in a global world - partner in modernization".

(Nice logo, endless discussions. Courtesy of Wikipedia and PD Website)

The event usually is split between plenary sessions and guest speeches and breakout session of distinct working groups on topics ranging from "politics" to "culture". On the webpage we are given only few information on the actual speeches or transcripts and the papers or reports of the working groups. A bit more transparency would be welcomed.

Interestingly, there is an award that the PD hands out annually, the Peter-Boenisch-Gedächtnispreis. This award ought to be given to young journalists who reported on the German-Russian relations. The winners of 2008 are not published yet, so we have to look to the winner of 2007, who was Benjamin Bidder, a young German who wrote a reportage on young German adults who spend time in Russia on social projects and meet survivors of the Second World war. This story was published on "Spiegel Online" in June 2007.

Benjamin seems to be quite active these days. After having received the price he wrote articles on Russian Hackers who are targeting the political opposition, a new "Institute on Human Rights in Russia", the silly ideas of the Russian pseudo politician Vladimir Zhirinovski. Well, write on then young fella! :-)

Schloegel strikes again!

2008-09-30T07:25:00.000-07:00

Karl Schloegel. A name like thunder. Well. At least a very active chronist and analyst of the German-Russian relations and of the history of the Soviet Union. Almost every year, Mr. Schloegel is issuing a new historical cornerstone analysis. His books on the "Russian Berlin" and on St.Petersburg have found wide applause and recognition. He lectures at the Viadrina university in Frankfurt/Oder.

(Big Schloegel is watching you. Courtesy of Viadrina)

Now a new volume stands on the shelf of bookstores : Moscow 1937 - Terror and Dream. The Deutschlandradio published a Podcast Interview with him.

During a time in which Russia develops a more revisionist perspective on its own history, publications like these of Schloegel would offer a true and revealing image on how oppressive the Stalin and Soviet times were. However we might see interested readers on Novy Arbat's Dom Knigi search in vain for such works.

Georgia blues in the deep south

2008-09-16T02:33:00.000-07:00

Halleluja, it took us really long to come back but anyway, here we are again. Our hurting eyes still have to adjust to the new order that has emerged from the war in Georgia. But we do not want to discuss new orders or a new cold period ahead. No, we are still shocked by the pictures as seen on flickr from T. Tseradze and Technorati.

Two words strike us: tragic and unnecessary. This war was coming with an intensity again affecting hundreds of civilians and causing damage of civil infrastructure. It was probably completelly unnecessary from both sides, as it has only made things more difficult - not only for Georgia but also for Russia.

Who started first and which militia was first pulling the trigger - historians may one day find that out or we will never know. But again we have been proved that politicians both in Georgia and Russia were and are trigger happy instead of bringing the conflict to a peaceful resolution. In 2004, the International Crisis Group published a visionary paper titled "GEORGIA:AVOIDING WAR IN SOUTH OSSETIA". It obviously was not read properly in Tbilisi and Moscow. Tell this the victims on both sides now.

Lufhhansa Cargo bullied by Russian state

2007-11-10T12:51:00.001-08:00

How strange is that? Just when you thought there is no bolder move possible (besides the endles charades of presidential term prolongation, Georgian Rose-Raids or Weapons-Disarmament-Treaty-Leaving), you open the newspaper and read about Lufthansa Cargo being tried to be "hijacked" to abandon Astana airport in favour of Russia's Krasnoyarsk Yemelanovo airport.
How to do it? Well just let a permit to cross Russian airspace expire (for which you earn decent cash anyway), let the politicians "talk" about it and try to resolve the problem; then just "suggest" that your aiport is so much nicer.

(Well, maybe Borat's fellow countrymen will have to find other means of transport soon. Or not!? Courtesy of LH Cargo)

And now, whichever decision is made, it tells you a lot on how business is entwined with politics in Russia and how state officials "lobby" the economy. Following the discussion on Airliners.net of aviation industry experts across the globe, creates a clear picture. Russia probably shot itself in both feet with this LH Cargo stunt.

Well, a possibility might also to switch to Almaty, a move we would recommend strongly. And be it just to teach Russian politicians what not to do. The German daily FAZ speculated that the whole bullying has to do with Lufthansa's recent announcement of moving its Moscow passenger operations from Sheremetyevo to Domodedovo. Our recommendation: move even sooner. Sheremetyevo is a big mess anyway.

Finally a task for Russia's submarines

2007-08-06T07:59:00.000-07:00

Russia's submarine fleet has finally reclaimed a national pride duty. At the beginning of August two smaller submarines descended on the North Pole underwater seaflor and planted a Russian flag there to cement the country's claim on the area oil and other resources.

The biggest agglomeration of Russia's nuclear submarine fleet is found in the Mursmansk area on the Kola peninsula. Zapadnaya Litsa is the most important naval station with its bases Andreeva Bay, Bolshaya Lopatka, Malaya Lopatka, and Nerpicha [Nerpichya]. All can be viewed openly on Google Earth (69°27'00"N 32°22'00"E).

As SIPRI points out in its 2006 yearbook, Russia has quite a fleet on the Kola peninsula.

"In 2005 the Russian Navy deployed 13 SSBNs with the Northern and Pacific fleets. Of these, six were Delta III (Project 667BDR Kalmar) submarines.26 Some experts suggest that the submarines of this class, which first entered service in 1982, may be retired during the next few years.27 The Navy continues to operate seven Delta IV Class (Project 667BDRM Delfin) submarines. One SSBN has been paid off and is currently being refitted as a special-purpose submarine. The six remaining SSBNs—Verkhotur’e, Yekaterinburg, Novomoskovsk, Tula, Bryansk and Kareliya—are based in the Northern Fleet."

Soon a new face will be seen up there the "Borei Class". We are already very impatient how this new class will be able to even more quickly plant Russian flags on the sea floor.

Luzhkov opens first Russian gay community centre in Moscow with German MP Beck!

2007-05-28T11:31:00.000-07:00

Oh what joy and harmony! After years of struggling with with gay pride in Russia, the mayor of Moscow Luzhkov finally agreed to open the first Wowereit Gay Centre (a reminiscence to his Berlin counterpart in Berlin).

(Helpful Moscow policemen have to protect German politician Volker Beck from cheering, exhilarated Moscow gay fans who came to meet and greet the guests from Europe; Courtesy of DPA)

Well, ... yes in an ideal world this might have been possible. But not in Russia, not these days. Not on the 27th of May 2007, when gay activists from all over Russia and Europe gathered a second time this year to make their voices heard. Big respect should be paid for the politicians attending this march, especially Volker Beck (Green party Germany, MP), Sophie in't Veld (MP European Parliament), Vladimir Luxuria (MP Italy), Marco Cappato (MP European Parliament), Peter Tatchell (UK gay activist) and Nikolai Alekseev (Gay Pride activist from Russia).

Shortly before the new clashes, even Alexey Mitrofanov (Russian State Duma Deputy) argued to allow the march, because it could mean that:
"...we will loose all Strasbourg cases on this issue and then we will be surprised that sone persons or deputies will not get entry visas to the European countries".

Homophobic attitudes in Russia are not really new. Already in summer 2001, when the mayor's office was flooded with requests to allow a gay parade in the city the office stated that:
"...the government will not allow holding this march in Moscow on the Day of the City or on any other day, because such demonstrations outrage the majority of the capital's population, are in effect propaganda of dissipation and force upon society unacceptable norms of behavior.''
Luzhkov is in good company. When the Levada Centre asked Russians in April 2005:"

"Do you think homosexual relations between consenting adults should or should not be prosecuted in Russia?", 43,5% said they should be prosecuted (37,9% not, 18,6 don't know). But there is a glimmer of hope as a majority of Russians (42,8%) support a legal ban on discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. 36,1% of Russians do not think this is needed.

Gay rights are hard to achieve. Many western countries had similar difficulties in accepting gay communities. The Russian officials seem to be a few decades behind in achnowledging reality. Our advice: Attend the Christpopher Street Day (CSD) in June in Berlin. It is NOT satanic and definitelly a big economic cash generator. Maybe this is an argument for money man Luzhkov?

(Maybe a bit to chilly to do in Moscow yet (Scenes from Christopher Street Day in Berlin 2006; Courtesy "franky_of_berlin" flickr.com)

Our man in Moscow : Thomas Roth

2007-04-27T04:01:00.000-07:00

The WDR, among Germany's biggest 1st TV channel (ARD) contributors, has a reputation of sending qualified correspondents to Russia's capital. Germany's picture of Soviet and Russian politics and people has been shaped in the past by such icons of German journalism as Gerd Ruge and actually Thomas Roth.

(Expecting to hear from you soon from Russia with loving critique. Courtesy by WDR)

His first professional ARD encounter with Russia was probably in 1991, when he joined the journalist group in Moscow. With some pauses (95-98), he committed himself to Russia until the end of April 2002, when he changed back to Berlin to become the head of the ARD "Capital studio".
Being in Moscow, he managed to arrange a trip from Lawrentija (at the Bering Street) to Kaliningrad with his camera entourage to broadcast in a couple of live sessions a vivid picture of the country, again following in the footsteps of similar ventures of Ruge and Sager(ZDF). We have cherrished to recently read a book he published in 2002 about that trip and found that he balanced well between an objective eye for the people and sharp observations of big and small Russian politics and psyche.

Now the WDR decided to send back Roth to Moscow and at the same time make them their "chief reporter" (whatever that means). He is also rumoured to move to New York in 2009, again for the ARD.
The work of ARD correspondents in Moscow is not without risk, as show the recent troubles and hits that Stephan Stuchlik (himself an ARD correspondent) was welcomed with when reporting about a demonstration (probably anti-Putin) in Moscow. There is a hell of a lot of work to be done for Thomas Roth in Russia. Dawaij dawarisch, pischite!!

Bum Bum Boris

2007-04-24T06:42:00.000-07:00

When the putsch escalated in August 1991 in Moscow's streets, when demonstrators in Russia were not sure whether their protests had already gone too far, when Gorbatschow was under fire and Jelzin emerged as the man on top of the tanks speaking to an amazed crowd of soldiers, journalists and citizens,... I was sitting in a YMCA cafeteria in Kirkcaldy, Scotland watching TV news and thinking "why does always something happen when I am on vacation". I thought the same when I saw Sep. 11 planes crash into the twintowers live on Russian NTW (which had switched to CNN) in Omsk, Siberia in the summer of 2001.
Although the 9/11 incidents changed everyone's life in the aftermath, the events in Moscow in the summer of 1991, were not less dramatic for the ordinary citizen in Russia.

It took Jelzin only roughly 2 years to make the Russian White House in Moscow again the center of the world's attention, when in October 1993, "loyal" and "pro-democracy" tanks units were firing rounds into the building, trying to smoke out again a smouldering putsch. Something that probably could only happen in Russia.

In the wild 1990s Russia resembled a steeringless supertanker trying to park into a small yacht marina. Economic reforms were done by a few wild bunch economists, never before even having had the slightest idea of running a country, not speaking of how to cope with hyperinflation, privatisation or a financial policy. To be fair, probably no one had a proper idea at that time anyway for Russia, but a bit more consulting and international coordination would have saved probably many roubles of the ordinary man on the street. The years that followed were "challenging" times for everyone in Russia. The once proud industrial base - gone to smithereens, the bank accounts - pulverized, the democratic system - clueless in its infancy. If Jelzin's flamboyant spirit could do something well, it was probably the one thing he actually did: sweep aside the crumbling and rotten leftovers of the Soviet Union and its institutions and organs, seizing the long leash that Gorbachev offered (partly unintentionally) and brisk away critics, hesitant communists and backminded party officials. This is probably his biggest merit, maybe his only one.

Michael Thumann, wrote in the "Zeit" in early January 2000, that Jelzin probably changed Russia as profoundly as Lenin did in the 20th century. If this is right, we do not know, but we do know that Jelzin's final act as president of the biggest country on earth, the presentation of his heir Putin, was probably his biggest mistake ever.
To our understanding this was actually the biggest mistake he could do. Not because Putin in fact slowly "stabilized" the tilting supertanker Russia in his first presidency, but because it cemented the way from then on how "democracy" was meant to be in Russia, reminding the world more of governmental behaviour like it is currently visible in Nigeria's stooged election. Bringing in an ex-KGB boss as president of Russia, negotiating the sale of indusrial assets with oligarchs, tinkering with Putin his own and his family's immunity to legal prosecution, starting the first of 3 wars in Chechnya, failing to implement democratic reforms, a free press, a true multi-party system.... Again, like many before him and actually the one after him, the president of Russia in the 90s, defined himself more by what he did not do, or failed to do, than by what he actually did.

Helmut Kohl just commented the death of Jelzin on German TV today, by saying he was "a true and dependable friend of the Germans". Both Germany and especially the Russians could have benefited from other forms of friendship much more.

Ryklin and Koenen

2007-04-12T08:56:00.000-07:00

In early 2007, during the Leipzig Book Fair, two journalists/authors were awarded the Leipziger Buchpreis zur Europäischen Verständigung.
Koenen had recently published a book on the German perception of the "East" between 1900 and 1945; Ryklin a striking testimonial of the trial of the organisers and curators of the Moscow exhibition "Caution! Religion!" (Achtung Religion) in 2003. The exhibition had been staged in the Moscow Sacharow Center and had been destroyed 3 days after the start of the exhibition by religious vandals. Interestingly not the vandals were put to trial but the organisers of the exhibition. Ryklin's wife, Anna Altschuk, was among the accused.

(A nice couple. Courtesy of Anne Faden and Jörg Bauer)

In a highly interesting interview he gave with the German daily der Tagesspiegel in late 2006 he said about the trial:

"We spent five months in court, pretty much the whole time. At first the trial was against the perpetrators but the public prosecutor acquit them on a pretext. Then there was a trial against those who had been attacked. Against the director of the Sakharov Centre for "fomenting national and religious strife." The artists were threatened with prison sentences. The national Duma claimed before the attorney general that the artists had offended the sensibilities of orthodox believers. "

In the first chapter of his book "With the rights of the stronger" (Mit dem Recht des Stärkeren) he gave a very top line, but compelling explanation why things like the trial are possible in Russia today:

A persitent obedience to authoritarianism (Csar, Sowjet, President)
A pathological division between different social levels
A strong nationalistic and conservative-religious tradition

Who could have summed it up better?

Cold showers in Munich

2007-03-14T09:34:00.000-07:00

The turning point in bilateral relationships between Russia and the rest of the Western world happened in Munich in February 2007. Well, actually it was not really a surprise although a few commentators wanted to make us think so.

"We are no longer in ideological conflict with the West," he said. "Russia is a totally different country," Putin said there.

How right he is. Nothing is as it used to be a few years back when the West was happy to get over the flamboyant and notorious Boris Yeltsin and the political vacuum he left at the turn of the century. A former KGB spy? Why not, if he is at least organized?

Today we face Russia and look at issues we would not have dreamed that could erupt:

We openly worry about the future of the energy supply we get from Russia.
We face increasing democratic hic ups in Russia's civil society.
We are confronted with a rampant corruption in Russia with no signs of getting better.
We see Russia openly selling arms to rouge states like Iran and even are not surprised if Russian arms that were shipped via Syria to Hizbullah are killing Jewish citizens.
We witness Russia meddling in South Ossetia, Transdniestria and even Ukraine.
We are not even suprised by Russia's human rights record any more, where politicians, journalists and citizens are killed, silenced or just blocked from elections.

Actually one could continue the list on topics such as international relations (Sudan, Syria) environemental issues (Kyoto, Nuclear energy and waste, water and air quality ->e.g. Norlisk Nickel), business (e.g. Sakhalin). Is there anything that is done right?

21 and counting

2006-12-21T02:53:00.000-08:00

The magazine Russia Profile published in their December 2006 issue a list of "murders of politicians and journalists in Russia since 1994". The list includes:

* Dmitry Kholodov (Commentator for Moskovsky Komsomolets, Oct. 1994)
* Alexei Baryshnikov (Head of department of transportation and communications in Moscow City, Winter 1995)
* Vladislav Listyev (General director of ORT TV, Mar. 1995)
* Andrei Ulanov (Chief Editor Tolyatti Segodnya, Oct. 1995)
* Anatoly Stepanov (Dept. Minister of Justice, May 1996)
* Nikolai Lapin (Ed. of Vse Obo Vsem Tolyatti, Jan. 1997)
* Mikhail Manevich (Dept. Governor of St. Petersburg, Aug. 1997)
* Galina Starovoitova (Duma member, Nov. 1998)
* Alexei Kotlyar (Dept. Governor Kamtchatka, Mar. 2000)
* Igor Domnikov (Ed. Novaya Gazeta, Jul. 2000)
* Sergei Novikov (Pres. Vesna Radio Smolensk, Jul. 2000)
* Sergei Ivanov (Dir. Lada-TV Tolyatti, Oct. 2000)
* Mikhail Sirot (Duma member, Feb. 2001)
* Valery Golovlev (Duma member, Aug. 2002)
* Valentin Tsvetkov (Gov. Magadan region, Oct. 2002)
* Sergei Yushenkov (Duma member, Apr. 2003)
* Alexei Sidorov (Ed. Tolyatitinskoye Obozreniye newspaper, Oct. 2003)
* Paul Klebnikov (Russian Forbes, Jul. 2004)
* Andrei Kozlow (Deputy Head of Central Bank, Sep. 2006)
* Anna Politkovskaya (Novaya Gazeta, Oct. 2006)

Not included on the original list are:
* Larisa Yudina (Editor of the Sovetskaia Kalmykia Segodnia, Jun. 1998 Source: Amnesty International)
* Yevgeny Gerasimenko (Saratovsky Rasklad, Jul. 2006 Source: UNESCO)

The Center to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued many warnings for Russia in the past. In 2005 Mosnews had reported CPJ's statment on Russia that:
"Russia has been named one of the “five most murderous countries” by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Murder is the leading cause of job-related deaths among journalists worldwide, and the Philippines is the most murderous country of all, a new analysis by the New York based CPJ has found. Iraq, Colombia, Bangladesh, and Russia round out CPJ’s list.
In Russia, contract-style killings pose a grave threat to journalists. The CPJ found that at least seven journalists died in contract-style slayings in direct reprisal for their work; it is still investigating the motives in four other contract killings that may have been related to the victims’ work.
Most of the victims were print journalists investigating organized crime and government corruption, while a few were broadcast journalists who had criticized the policies of influential local politicians. A politicized criminal justice system, crippled by corruption and mismanagement, has perpetuated a climate of impunity in Russia."

(Can't your read this?, UK NUJ Protesters outside Russian Embassy Courtesy of Tomroyal FLickr).

Did we say 21? The JRL prooved us definitelly wrong. What a mess.

I am not stupid, am I? - Ja ne durak!

2006-12-07T09:17:00.000-08:00

The consumer electronics retail giant from Germany, Mediamarkt has finally arrived in Russia. Moscow, Rostov na Don, St. Petersburg. It sounds a bit like a frontline in the global war for retailing and in fact it is. Shoppers will find a haven for brand goods and affordable white goods as well as audio, video and PC equipment soon.

(Loved by valued customers around the world; courtesy of "nygus" on flickr)

The primary selling argument for Media markets is always variety and price, which sounds a bit like Wal Mart. Now that German consumers have had enough of "Closefistedness is phat" and turn increasingly to quality products and no longer base purchasing decisions only on price, Russian consumers can celebrate to face many years of cheap mostly Chinese and Vietnamese manufactured consumer goods coming their way (of course with a nice brand label on top). Also Media Markt has a special interest in bloggers, so we better shut up now and buy some more DVD recorders.

The shadows from the p(E)ast

2006-10-11T10:56:00.000-07:00

Putin is back in Dresden. The place he learned his early KGB style. Along with his visit is another round of the "Petersburger Dialog" sessions, which had been initiated in 2001 to foster a dialogue on civic societies & rights, politics and press.

(Ah,.... it's good being back in the "Middle East" where it all began.")

Quite coincidently the dialogue had a huge subject, the murder of Anna Politkovskaya. Just 500 forlorn people gathered in Moscow to mourn her killing on the weekend. The press attendance at the Dresden meeting might be just as high.
Journalists on both sides are still not sure what the brutal assasination will mean. The West is more and more disappointed about the poor political and civic track record of the Putin Gang in the Kremlin, the East is lamenting the West's bias to an unfair and one-dimensional coverage of the killing. One is fore sure, she was pressing the pain points of Russia, and one of these is still Chechnya and the human rights violations there.
In one of her last interviews with Radio Liberty she spoke about her final project, Kadyrow in Chechnya:

"Kadyrov is a Stalin of our times. This is true for the Chechen people. Many of our colleagues have gone out of their way to make us believe that this is a small percentage, that absolute evil can triumph today so that in some hypothetical future this evil can become good. This is absolutely not true. As for the admiration felt for Kadyrov, you know, the situation is as it was under Stalin. If you [hear someone] speaking officially, publicly, openly, there is admiration. As soon as you [hear someone] speak secretly, softly, confidentially, you're told: 'We hate him intensely.' This split is absolute in people's souls. This is a very dangerous thing."

Kadyrow Junior might be a big topic. He is just about to apply fully to become the president of Chechnya. He hands out bribes openly to religious leaders (who he says, he wants to get back out of the Wahabbist in the country), he builds water parks and huge landscape parks around his residency, all sponsored out of a "foundation" of his May 2004 killed father. Is this ever going to change? We think no,....

Sooner or later for Politkovskaya

2006-10-09T04:38:00.000-07:00

Are we surprised? No. Actually we are, but in a different way. We wonder why it took the greedy undercurrents so long to get a hold of one of Russia's most brilliant political journalists. Now the mourning is big and people are asking themselves why and how this could happen.

(As always Russia is too late; Courtesy of TheStandard)

The answer lies within Russia, as always. In a country where murky business, state-authored is to be the norm, where journalists are always with one foot in jail or in the coffin, in such a country it was just sooner or later for Politkovskaja. In her book "In Putin's Russia" she gave impressive testimony on killings in Chechnya, or ridiculous legal systems and court behaviours in Russia. Albeit, no one inside Russia was really listening. Everyone was, as usual, busy in struggling on the individual daily fight. Just like everyday. The few people in Russia who actually read the book, I guess you must have looked pretty long in Dom Knigi on Novie Arbat to find it anyway (if it was ever translated in Russian at all), might just have said that, yes it is a pitty with the system and that Russia needs a strong hand to get things right. Just the ordinary nationlistic lines. This weekend Russia has not lost anything actually. It barely has anything to loose anyway anymore.

Putinland entertains the G8

2006-08-05T08:46:00.000-07:00

So much has been expected of the G8 meeting in St. Petersburg and so little has been achieved. They have talked about energy security, about the global hotspots and the ever attention-hungry middle east and as usually not much than "on-the-spot-commenting" could be seen by the world. But what they have forgot to talk about is the most pressing subject: the ever so important and ever more distant transformation of Russian society. Nothing seems to change in Russia. No achievements in press freedom, no move to freer and more independent courts, no fightings against corruption, no cleaning up of the weird foreign politics (we just think of Iran and Syria) and ... and that is the worst of all ... an ever growing ignorance and indifference among the bigger part of the Russian civilization regarding the internal affairs of Russia and the staggering progress and steps back this country makes.

(What exactly were we here for, Wowa? Courtesy of AP)

In his Wall Street Journal Article from the 10th of July 2006, Edvard Radzinsky made a few interesting observations. Russia, he writes, saw 3 civilzations during the last 70 years; the Czars, the Stalinistic time (and communist era) and the post Gorbatchev time of the 1990s until today. Each time was characterized by strong autocratic (at-best) individuals who broke with their predecessors, Lenin with the last Czar, Stalin with Lenin, Jelzin with Gorbatchev and Putin with Jelzin. Radzinsky says: "You can imagine the chaos of ideas and beliefs in the hearts of the russian citizens".
What does this have to do with the G8 summit? A lot and nothing at all at the same time. The G8 summit has degraded to a mere afternoon tea talk. It has no powers and no real tools (its agenda and pre-summit meetings look like an ordinary provincial conference). And the world will probably not really continue to look at this event in the future, just like the average Russian will more or less stop to care about politics at all if the russian state continues to incapacitate its people and discourages participation in politics for the average Oleg and Olga . Putin is risking that his society will turn fully away from engaging itself in politics on a regional and local level. Maybe this is exactly what this show is all about. The Pew Global Atiitudes Project recently said that:

"Russians have been considerably less enthusiastic about democracy in recent years than they were in the early 1990s. Today, unlike then, when public cries for freedom were leading to the collapse of the Soviet Union, a majority believes that their country would be better served by a strong leader rather than a democratic government. And the latest Pew Global Attitudes poll finds the Russian people would choose a strong economy over a good democracy by a margin of almost six to one."

Try to tell this a russian citizen and (s)he will find nothing wrong about that.

Welcome Beck in Moscow

2006-05-28T11:23:00.000-07:00

There are obviously a few things in life that really are at the top of thrills. Joining a Moscow gay demonstration these days might make it very high up on that list. Volker Beck, being gay and the parliamentary executive officer of the Green Party in the German Bundestag, decided not to be intimidated and show his flag at the street event in Moscow on saturday.
He was greeted by extremely partial OMON troops, who wanted to add their special flavour to the event that had officially been denied confirmation by Juri Lushkov and a court. Roughly 60 of Russian neonazis and religious fanatics were trying to put a bit of emphasis to the words of Moscow's major. This turned out to be a stone (thrown at Beck) and a hit with the fist to the forehead of Beck, who was also arrested by the police (him not the slapper!) and only released after a few hectic calls to the German Embassy in Moscow.

(Not actually a Proseco-welcome for Beck, Courtesy of AFP)

The official Russia has its problems with homosexuals. It is in good company. Many countries around Russia have no normal relationship towards what they think is an unnormality. In Poland, Ukraine, the Baltics and Belarus (ha ha!) gay and lesbians face discrimintaion that most of the time is state-dictated or at least state-tolerated. The Russian organization Gayrussian even reported that the Mufti of Russia's muslims made clear in February that:

"...The parade should be allowed in no circumstances. If they go into the streets, they should be thrashed. All normal people will do it, both Muslims and the Orthodox."

In February this year during the M-4 summit of the city majors (Berlin, Moscow, London, Paris) we saw a very tied up Lushkov commenting about the Cristopher Street Day events. He said that Moscow should not have such a event. Actually it is quite surprising that Lushkov attends such a meeting at all, with two gay majors (Wowereit from Berlin and Delanoe from Paris). Maybe they were serving him a Proseco ...

The new "Versachlichung" (objectification)

2006-04-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

Angela is back in Russia. Again.
Well the first talks she held with Putin in Moscow were probably only a prelude to the meetings in Tomsk now, but what can alreasy be observed that the new frequent meetings are probably a sign of "intensive" and "offensive" talks between the official Germany and Russia.
The views on global politics could not be more diverse at the moment. Russia would like to get Hamas in the boat, Germany (like most EU and USA) still thing about whether one should talk to terrorists at all. Russia likes a cozy way of dealing with Iranian energy, Europe shudders at anything Ahmadinejad says these days about, ....er well probably anything. Europe likes Belorussian opposition candidates and Putin talks to the last dictator in Europe, called Lukashenko.
And then there is the big energy and gas question. Russia has turned a bit sour at European diplomats and business people when it comes to the continents comments on Gazprom, Ukraine's energy relation and new pipelines to Asian markets, most of all China.

(Yes, I like the colour as well, it has something symbolic, courtesy of EPA, 2006)

Well, we should not expect a lot of things to evolve out of this meeting straight away. The scene is set for an intensified dialogue and the German chancellor is probably a harder discussion partner than buddy "Gerd".

You are Cherrmany !

2006-03-05T12:32:00.000-08:00

What is it that let's directors always think they have to adapt classic theater plays to an obviously non-existent modern taste? After having recently ruined Hamlet the Munich "Kammerspiele" theater took on another cornerstone of drama, Cechov's 'Cherry Orchard', and .... yes, ruined it again.

(Du bist Deutschland, Courtesy of Münchner Kammerspiele)

Cechov saw the play performed on the 17th of January in 1904 and Stanislavskij had played in and directed it at the "Moscow Artist Theater" (MChT), which was run by Vladimir Iwanowitsch Nemirowitsch-Dantschenko and Konstantin Sergejewitsch Aleksejew (aka Stanislawskij). But director and writer differ about the play and the staging and though the production seems to be a success, Cechov writes to his wife in late march the same year: "Stanislavskij has ruined the play." It seems to be oh so up-to-date.

(Oh no, not another modern production again)

Ah and here is another quiz: What do have Cechov and the Be-200 have in common?

The G-spot

2006-02-20T07:16:00.000-08:00

It is still a few months to the G8 summit in St.Petersburg in Russia to go but Russian are alreadey very enthusiastic about the event. A few weeks ago the German think-tank "Russlandanalysen" took to the streets of Russian cities (with the help of "Stiftung Öffentliche Meinung") to test the preparedness and eagerness to host the summit in summer.
71% rightly appreciated the the G8 summit was something that was "important", although 68% said at the same time that they heard the first time that the summit happens in Russia this year (maybe asking what G8 stands for would have led to some funny results as well. But Germans are no better at that. I recently saw a camera team on a german pedestrian zone asking the G8 questions and people were earnestly thinking that it has to do with physics). Coming back to the poll, we are happy to hear that a small minority (53%) think that it is "good" that Russia has this year's G8 chair.

In the same issue of the "Russlandanalysen" another poll result was shown which is also very interesting these days, the relationship to Iran.
39% have "friendly feelings" for Iran (23 have them not and 38% have no answer) and only 28% consider Iran an aggressive state. Well, actually it is more the hillariously stupid president that most people think of these days.

Well, we are eager to see the next offer by the Russian government on Iran's plants. Maybe considering inviting Iran to the G8? Well, even Wowa would hardly dare to do... (we hope).

(Let's disguise the reactor as a snow rabbitt. Izhora plant reactor vessel for Iran, courtesy of NCI)

Send me an Angela ...

2006-01-26T06:34:00.000-08:00

So finally she was there. How did we anticipate the visit of our new Mrs. Bundeskanzlerin in Putin's den in mid January. As usually first visits by new presidents or government heads are just a little bit of small-talk. Europeans did not really expect much from the meeting. Controversal topics such as gas, Chechnya or Belarus were carefully avoided. The Kommersant stated that she even said that...:

"...the partnership between Russia and Germany should be more intensive than before."

Err?? More intensive? Well, let us think about that for a few days. I am very curious what that would be. At least there was some consesus on another topic: Iran.

"As for Iran,” the president continued, “we spoke a lot about it. We, Russia and the Federal republic, have very close positions on that problem. One of the main problems is the enrichment of uranium. We proposed setting up a joint enterprise on the territory of Russia, and now we are hearing various points of view from our Iranian partners. One of them came to us from the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Our Iranian partners said that they do not completely exclude such a possibility. In any case, we have to work carefully and not make any sudden moves."

Right lets not make too sudden a move yet. Let's not sell the Mullahs anything dangerous and not do business with them at all.
And by the way, it would be good if we do not sell those Mullahs any weapons. You never know what you might have to deal with on your march on Teheran. But maybe the West should rethink that twice as the US home front is crumbling.

(And over there is my new gas stove I just bought, Courtesy of English Pravda)

But let's focus back on Angie. She really had a nice first trip to Russia and maybe the two really do get along as well as seen on the pictures, and she even met some NGOs. Russiprofile said that:

"But Merkel also met with representatives of Russian human rights organizations, which are strong critics of Kremlin policy. She met with the heads of the Memorial, Moscow Helsinki Group and Soldiers’ Mothers Committee human rights groups. Former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, whose government was dismissed by Putin ahead of the 2004 presidential elections, and who has announced that he will be a candidate in the campaign for the office in 2008, was also present at the meeting."

Nice done, Angie.

It's Stupino, you stupid ...

2006-01-09T09:48:00.000-08:00

This week, the German weekly Spiegel reported that Volkswagen is about to open a factory in Stupino south of Moscow on the Oka river, after the talk about this project had been on and off in the whole of 2005. There it plans to assemble pre-manufactured parts there for the growing Russian market and wants to gain market share of 10% in the next years in Russia. Up to 250000 cars could get of the factory hall in the years to come, in the beginning the models might by Skoda (Octavia) but in the future even other VW brands such as Audi and Seat could utilize the industrial assets.
This may sound akward for factory workers in VW's heartland around Wolfsburg and Salzgitter in Germany. Factories there are hardly running at full tilt and hard labour negotiations and compensation talks have already been held and will continue in the near future. 10000 people are expected to be laid off in the next years (from currently roughly 100000 in western german plants). The bad productiviy of some German VW assembly plants is actually suprising. Harbour Consulting publishes a annual report and claimed that VW needs 50 hours to build a car whereas its competitors only 25.

(You better think about how getting the Golf on top there , MIG model in Stupino, courtesy of Airforce.ru)

Stupino has a tradition of mechanical industries namely among them helicopter rotors (namely for the Mil and Kazan models) and is used by some air force transportation units units as a base (Mi-8). In November 2004 Putin issued a decree on inclusion of developers and manufacturers of Mil helicopters into a merger. The list contains the Moscow Helicopter Plant (Mil design house), Kazan Helicopters, Ulan-Ude aviation plant, Vpered Moscow machinery plant and Stupino machinery-building industrial enterprise.

VW will probably follow this policy of globalising their production network and supplier landscape. It will not be long when Germans might consider to apply for new jobs in Russian factories. We should all learn Russian these days.

It's a gas, baby ...

2005-12-30T12:05:00.000-08:00

Not many hours to go in the old year but we see already the theme set for the next year(s). The Russian government's own gas company Gazprom has demanded a four-fold price increase from Ukraine for its gas supplies. Russia claims that the price increase was necessary to bring the Ukrainian prices to general world levels. However the whole fish stinks from the head. Russia bought almost all of Turkmenistans gas exports to tighten the supply situation for the Ukrainian company Naftogaz Ukrainy. The deadline for the (trade) dispute to be resolved is set to be 0:00 am on Jan 1st. Why is this also interesting for Germany? Because, most of the gas exports from Russia to Germany transit via Ukrainian territory (German gas suppliers say they are safe with a 70+ day reserve in stock). We were quite unhappy with Gerhard Schröders involvement in the new Baltic gas pipeline. Now some voices arise that Schröder's chairmanship of NEGP should put him in a good position to broker a deal with Gazprom (or maybe Putin directly). We also scorn such political-economical mingling.

(There must be a way to get it over here. By courtesy of Udo Leuschner)

It is clear that this sabre rattling is a "punishment" for Ukraine and its president Yuchenko for his pro-western orientation and his liberal position on such things as the frightening situation in Belorussia. Interfax recently polled the ordinary street folks and found out that a surprising 80% support the Gazprom position, claiming economic necessities for the price increases. Even more interesting seems to be that "only" 44% of the respondents feel sorry for the average Ukrainian citizen, who has to cope with the anticipated price increases and a laughable 30% have friendly feelings for their neighbour. 30%? Really that much? 80 years or communist brothership bring out a lofty 30%? We obviously have a lot to fix in 2006...

Imag(e)in(e) all the Russians

2005-12-18T05:15:00.000-08:00

Recently I was invited to a dinner party of a German - US couple in Munich sharing a flat. Among the 2 main groups of guests, namely from the US and from Munich's greater surroundings, there was also a young lady from Moscow, whom I got acquainted with. The conversation started on some more harmless topics, like travelling in Russia, cooking Russian dishes and the like. However, it became sharper and a little bit huffy when I was leading the course of the discussion to more pressing things such as democracy and civil rights in Russia today. Ok, in general I know that one should avoid two things when talking to someone for the first time; politics and religion. But I am a nasty questioner and I naively exacerbated the situation when mentioning that Russia's image in the West is either dominated by indifference or ignorance.
Well, at the end we finally had a drink together and the evening was still a very enjoyable one, but one thing since then resounded a bit in me, which can be best summarized by asking "Has Russia an image problem?".
I am not sure what resounded in the journalists of Russia Profile who recently asked a similar question regarding Russia's image in the West.

Eric Kraus, chief strategist, Sovlink Securities in Moscow interestingly said that:
"We live in an era of “spin” and the Kremlin spin-doctors are rank amateurs at the art. The West DOES apply double (and triple, and quadruple...) standards to Russia. Russian terrorists become “freedom fighters,” murderous oligarchs suddenly become democrats, while Russia's move to seize control of her own mineral resources was adjudged almost as theft in Washington – as in, how did our oil get under your tundra?"

Donald Jensen, director of communications, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty adds:
"If there is a problem with Russia's international image – and increasingly there is – it is because Russia's ruling elite is often its own worst enemy. A press freer to discuss Russia’s warts might make elites cringe, but it would also better familiarize foreigners with the country’s complexity and the many good things that are happening. The result would be less an upgrade in image than an increase in familiarity. That, more than anything else, would lend credibility to the Russian perspective."

Aha. So the West expects too much. The Kreml's PR is too bad. The "elites" hinder or at least dont support the Russian press (who in itself has deficits) to give us a bit better propaganda. It is basically everybody's fault.
A few months ago our beloved new chairman of the the new gas pipeline for Germany (Yes, Gerd you only did it for our country! How unselfish! Thank you!!!) gave a joint interview with Putin for the biggest German daily BILD (we should say that their foreign politics department is not really renowned for, ... er, well foreign politics knowledge but still a very interesting interview):

QUESTION: Mr Chancellor, you were born in 1944. What image did you have of Russia as a young man?
GERHARD SCHROEDER: What I learned about Russia at school was enough only to provide a partial picture of this country. But there was always something that struck me about Russia. The size of this huge country that stretched all the way across two continents, from Europe to the very edge of Asia, always made an impression on me. For me, Russia was a great political power whose wise rulers and tsars had helped to decide European history. Then it was a country ruled by the communist party, that declared it was putting into practice the ideas of Marx and Engels. In the 1950s, of course, there was the image of Russia as an enemy, and there was an anti-communist sentiment that had a strong influence on the political climate in Germany. I have learned a lot since then about Russia, its history, culture, contribution to European culture, the patriotism and deep religious feelings of its people. What has become deeply rooted in my consciousness is the image of a vast country with a great diversity of peoples and languages and immense natural resources. The question always arises of its own accord: how do you manage such a huge country and preserve its integrity? I wouldn’t envy anyone who has to resolve such a mammoth undertaking. That is why I feel such respect for President Putin.

Already in January 2002, the DGAP made a more historic account of the Russian image problem and its changes across the years. And "Nowyje Iswestija" discussed this 6 weeks ago again.
Sergej Mironov, Head of the Russian federal council said that:
"...the Russian media is to blame. The foreign public has to draw their information from thrash heaps on the internet...".

We assume he was not only refering to Blogs like us, but also to Russian media who report about things that are not liked by the Kremlin. So the bad image about Russia in Mironov's eyes seems to be the fault of people who report about the undemocratic tendencies of the government. It would not surprise therefore if people like Mironov would favour a tight censorship and only good, clean, government-authorised coverage of events. It seems some people just do not get it.

So all in all, the Russian government had to act. After quite some thinking it was decided to establish a new media TV station "Russia Today", to promote a more "distinguished" (ha, ha) and positive (ho, ho) image of Russia and its policy makers via satellite. That the TV station is funded and directly controlled by the president and his administration is not communicated so openly. The channel was initiated by the Russian State TV "Rossija" and the state news agency "RIA Novosti", who both are not really what a western media critic would call independent. Russia Today generally is regarded as a propaganda tool to trumpet the state's views to the world. On December the 16th, Interfax reported thet just after 2 days, a hacker had blacked Russia Today's viewers' screens. Olga Romanowa, a journalist who recently resigned from the commentator's post at "REN TV", might have heard this with some amusement. She was basically physically blocked from continuing her work there. It seems that one of the last TV channels that had the guts to report about unshiny things of Russia and Moscow lost one of her biggest assets. A woman who dared to speak up.

Reality catches up with fiction

2005-12-10T14:10:00.000-08:00

In Monty Pythons movie on the "Life of Brian" there was this scene about a medieval witch inquisition. The female suspect was put on the scales with a duck and it was up to the bystanders to guess if she really prooved to be a witch. The argumentation was that ducks would swim just as a piece of wood which in itself could burn. Just as witches do when burnt at the stake. Ergo - if she weighs as much as a duck she must be a witch - which was prooved then in the film.
What does this has to do with gas? Natural gas to be more precise. Well gas is burning too, as are the eyes of the public when they just heard that our "Altbundeskanzler" Gerd just is headed to become the chairman of the board of NEGP (Nordeuropäischen Gas-Pipeline-Gesellschaft / Northern European Gas Pipeline Society).
Wait a moment. Why does this ring a bell? Where is Jushno-Ruskoje? Why should we all learn a bit Swiss German now? And why is 51% more than 49%?
Where should we start with this story? A story that sounds a bit more like a movie from Hollywood? Let's start with NEGP. This company is a joint venture between Gazprom (holding 51%) and BASF and E.ON (each holding 24.5%). The NEGP will exit Russia somwhere near St.Petersburg (Vyborg), slumber cozily on the sea floor of the Baltic Sea and then enter Germany close to Greifswald. The pipeline will transport gas to Germany, drawing its supplies from the gasfield Jushno-Ruskoje which is expected to hold reserves of more than 700 billion cubic meter and beginning in 2010 should cover a third of the thirsty German gas consumers' appetite. Well, gas as such is not fishy but come on, Gerd as chairman of a company that will run the show of a multi-billion $ deal that he himself has brokered? That really smells fishy. As did his pushy engagement to get the deal done in the last months of his chancellorship in 2005. The pipeline has irritated the Polish and Baltic countries governemnt quite much for being not part in it.

(And they said they would have a board seat for you too!)

NEGP is not registered in Germany or Russia but in a small dorming city of Zug in Switzerland, not really known for his tax enforcement activities. (Boris Nemtov, who's bank Neftyanoi was just raided by Omon and prosecutors in Moscow this weekend, probably more because he is said to be a friend of Mikhail Kasyanov, a former finance minister under Yeltsin, should consider to put up business there. He has been the only opposition politician so far to say he will run for the presidency in 2008).
Yes we expected something like this somehow.
By the way, an other bank that was raided recently in Moscow by state officials was MDM bank. One of the biggest clients of MDM was Sibneft, when still run by Roman "Chukotka" Abramowitsch before it changed hands for roughly 13 bn US$ earlier this year. The new owner? Of course Gazprom. Now I just do have one question: can Gazprom swim?

The axes of eagle - Part 2, Kazakhstan

2005-12-02T06:22:00.000-08:00

There are not that many colours left. Orange, rose, yellow, blue (denim) in the making,... An other revolution again? Has Kazakhstan already reached the level of being so fed up with the political and economical elite as its former soviet mates in Georgia or Ukraine?
Probably not. Yet. The country is large, 6 times the size of Germany. It is sparesly populated (only 5,5 per sq km, 15 mil overall). It showed relatively strong GDP growth (9,4% in 2004) and a gross national income of 2250$ that is expected to rise to 3200$ in 2005. The country has infact undergone a few reforms (frameworks on civil service, foreign direct investments, banking and pensions reforms) but it lacks one thing: a vision. Though oil revenues spill money into the state's pockets an effective management of the small wealth is still at large and the country has not managed to diversify beyond basic industries. HIV/AIDS is an other issue. Infection rates, according to the world bank, are rising fast.

The country supplied large scores of emrigrants with German ancestors. 230000 people with German family ties (though some of them pretty weak) are still estimated to live in Kazakhstan today. However German-Kazakh relations are relatively normal. The country supplied a fifth of German oil imports in the last year. There even exists a "Deutsches Theater" in Almaty.

On the 4th of December, presidential elections will tell the world more about the progress or stillstand of reform in Kazakhstan. The president Nursultan Nazarbayev, should likely win another 7 year term. But, the leading opposition candidate, Zharmakhan Tuyakbai is waiting to unite the still fragmented opposition.

(Tuyakbai, the next Viktor Yushchenko?)

Russia's relationship with Kazakhstan is mixed. There have been some irritation (the Baikonur Space Base), access to oil and the delivery of Kazakh oil to Europe, pipeline routes, how to deal with China etc. But Russian is still widely spoken in the country, there are Russian-Kazakh summits every now and then. Gas fields are divided ans shared between the two countries, space industry activities are continuing and border traffic and access should be simplified.
Russia is keen not to blunder with every former CIS state and probably will interfere too much like in the Ukraine. Many Russian simply dont care too much for the southern neighbour. That should change.

("I know what is playing in Kasaaaack!" by courtesy of Boratonline)

For those of you who still have a lack of knowledge on life, customs and people of Kazakhstan, I highly recommend to check out Borat. This excellent journalist made me understand the country for the first time ever.

(This is how you should meet your president. By courtesy of Boratonline)

The new journalist guard

2005-12-01T02:20:00.000-08:00

Journalism and Russia? Not an easy task in the last years. Not only Russian foreign correspondents but also Russia's own scores of writers fight a seemingly endless battle for bringing the truth to light.

The 24th of November now saw the latest award ceremony in Moscow of the "Journalistenpreis des Verbandes der Deutschen Wirtschaft in der Russischen Föderation (VDW)" (Journalist award of the association of the German Economy in the Russian Federation).
An event that is happening bi-annually and that is sponsored by E.ON Ruhrgas, Volkswagen, Siemens, Deutsche Management-Akademie Niedersachsen, Deutsche Messe AG, REWICO and Grundig. As long as they only pay and not interfere too much in the jury decision, we welcome such social sponsoring.
Talking about the jury is also not uninteresting. Pundits such as Gerd Ruge (chairman of the jury and THE godfather of German journalism concerning Russia), Thomas Roth (former ARD-correspondent in Moscow), Ina Ruck (ARD), Dirk Sager (Russian correspondent for the ZDF), Jelena Fjodorowa (REN-TV), Wladimir Kondratjew (NTW) and Jewgeni Grigorjew (Nesawissimaja Gaseta) were all there. This at least gives us the impression of real credibility.
Anything else? Ah, of course the laureates, how could I forget:

Jens Hartmann for his article „Einmal Privatisierung und zurück/Return ticket for privatisation“ (Welt newspaper, 24th June 2004). He now works in Russia as a free correspondent.
Wjatscheslaw Mostowoi for his work as correspondent from 1992 to 2001 of the Russian 1st channel in Berlin. He coined the image of Germany and Germans in Russia. Today he works as a vice president of TW Zentr.
Alexander Schestkow (REN-TV) for a TV documentary "Diener des Volkes/Servants or the people" for comparing the state administration in Russia and Germany. He received the award in the category "young journalists".
Tobias Zihn for his article "Nur Moskau lebt – und der Rest des Landes dämmert vor sich hin/Only Moscow lives - and the rest of the country dozes"(Moskauer Deutsche Zeitung MDZ). He received the award in the category "young journalists".

We will be watching closely.

The next step ... again in the wrong direction

2005-11-24T06:14:00.000-08:00

Who actually sits in the Russian parliament? After the the 23rd November 2005 it seems that most of the deputies have a cramp in their neck from bowing down and nodding the proposed new bills through.

The Duma approved (370-18 with 48 abstentions) a first reading of a bill that would make work harder for non-government organisations (NGOs) in the future. Currently it is estimated that between 300000 and 450000 NGOs operate in Russia. The bill would have them to be reregisterd with the Justice Ministry's Federal Registration Service under tighter rules next year, which would also have to check that NGOs did not use foreign grants to finance political activities.

(Will she be there in the future? by courtesy of "The Age")

Serious NGOs, like Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch, heavily veto the law and publicly cry foul. As Holly Cartner, the Executive Director for Europe and Central Asia Division in HRW, puts it:

"This law signals a new chapter in the government’s crackdown on civil society institutions. Now that the Kremlin has neutralized other checks and balances, NGOs remain among the last independent voices that can criticize the government and demand accountability in Russia."

Sounds familiar? Well you can guess, what the Kremlin is afraid of. But you just would have one guess free.
Well actually there is this thing about colours. The fear in Russia that a revolution in the same way as seen in the Ukraine could take place must cause a lot of sleeples nights for politicians.
United Russia Deputy Andrey Mikhailovich Makarov (Lenin-Kuznetsky district)was a big defender of the bill proposl and said that there would be criminal organization disguising themselves as NGOs. When being asked to give an example for such a case, the journalists heard the silence of the Russian taiga...he could not name one, instead he said to Reuters:

"This is an absolutely fine and an absolutely sane law. All these cries from its opponents have no relation to the actual law because the law does nothing but establish order."

Oops,...sorry still had to hold my shaking belly.
So, we already thought that sooner or later anything done against free press, speech and other political parties is justified with extremism and criminal forces. Putin said in July he would not allow foreign countries to fund what he called "political activities" via nonprofit organizations or NGOs. This is probably directed also towards the "Open Russia" foundation from Chodorkovsky. We are waiting for the Kremlin to perceive the future of Russia correctly.

Sainap Gaschajewa gets the price

2005-11-21T05:16:00.000-08:00

The subject of Chechnya might not be off the records yet. It might probably never. Sainap Gaschajewa knows this and has decided not to look away but instead do something for the people living in Chechnya.
On the 20th of November 2005 she was awarded the German "Lew-Kopelew-Price" an recognition that is awarded since 1999. "Memorial" was one of the former laureates. The award is initiated by the Lew-Kopelew-Forum.

(By courtesy of Westdeutscher Rundfunk, 2005)

Gaschajewa chairs the organisation "Echo of the war" who cares about war oprhans and mine victims in Chechnya. Her weapons are video- and photo camera and she sometimes risks her own life when investigating cases she has been asked to take care of. She is called Coca and even film makers became interested in her work, like Eric Bergkraut. The United Nations estimate that more tha 850000 people were affected by the wars in Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan. 850000 now at least have a brief moment of recognition.

Where to Mr. Obosow?

2005-11-03T10:04:00.000-08:00

21 years and already in the focus of the FSB and Putin, what an achievement for the young student from St. Petersburg. As head of the "Iduschtschije bes Putina" movement he talks about a future without the current president. But his main focus of activities is against the "Naschi" groups of young ardent Putin-followers who started to build simething like a personality cult around the former FSB-top executive. The young Obosow also raises questions about press freedom, young recruits in the Russian army and especially recent moves of teh Russian defence ministry to abandon the possibility to delay/cancel the military service time for students.

(By courtesy of Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, Lothar Deeg)

Their activities range from small gatherings (which get more and more prohibited these days) to 1-person-demonstrations against police arbitrariness and the Chodorkovsky case. The group seems active and already under close international media coverage. Russia just gets more like western countries where people can express their views openly. A trend the country should be more proud than nervous about.

(By courtesy of AP, as seen in german newspaper "Der Spiegel" March 2005)

Down on Krasikov street ....

2005-10-31T03:42:00.000-08:00

People walk on the sideway of a Russian street. To work, home, shopping, no one knows where to, even Lenin seems to ask "Kuda?". The zavod on the right side, the cars on the left, the broad greenfield in between. A nice blue sky with some clouds. Rarely has anyone seen a better example of regime critique, than the masterpiece of Eric Bulatov "Krasikov-Street" painted in 1977. It can be witnessed at the current Russia! exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York these days.

The people do no take notice of Lenin any more. Even Lenin seems to care not about his revolution's children. They do walk in opposite directions, ignore each other. The revolution is degraded to a mere signpost on the street.

"International Arts and Artists" portrays him as a so called "Postwar Russian Avant-Garde member" and says about him:
"...Born in 1933, Bulatov was born in Sverdlovsk but moved to Moscow at age three. In the 1960’s he formed the Srentensky Boulevard Group with Kabakov, Shteinberg, Pivvovarov and Yankilevsky. He is an important representative of the older generation of unofficial artists and of the Moscow Conceptualists. He lives in Paris."

He is a member of the "Sächsische Akademie der Künste" (Saxon Academy of Arts, who also sums up what is known about him. Over all a very interesting representative of subtle forms of "dissidentswo".

See Russia through the eyes of Yuri Tutov

2005-10-19T07:25:00.000-07:00

What does Yuri Tutov see? He is a photocorrespondent mainly for Agence France Press (AFP) in Russia but also for other media organs like the "New York Times". He is an attentive follower on what happens in Chechnya, which he first covered in 1994. He won the "International News Picture Story" of the National Press Photographers Association in the US for covering the tragedy at Beslan for AFP.

In 2004, Tutov was awarded "Best Photo in 2004) third place for a photograph taken in September during the school hostage siege of Beslan at the first-ever international press photo competition organised by Chinese media in March 2005.

Russian photojournalism seems to be a tricky thing these days. Having had to cope with state censorship in the past, most photo journalists work for international agencies today or for Russian dailies like the Kommersant. Moreover there do exists some "forums" on photojournalism, like Interfoto or Photographer.ru

The following picture is quite a good example of the excellent view that Tutov has about the realities of Russia and its society. The picture shows Russian recruits near Grosny.

(By courtesy of AFP, as seen in ai-Journal germany 10/2005)

Grigorii Pasko struggles for Russia's future

2005-10-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

Imprisoned in 2001 for discovering the disreputable practices of Russia's Pacific Fleet of dumping radioactive thrash into the sea of Japan, Grigorii Mikhailovich Pasko was sentenced for 4 years in prison (near Ussurijsk of region Wladiwostok) because he filmed it and showed the documentary on Japanese TV. He was released already in January 2003 after international attention for his case, especially from Germany and the European parliament, had intensified. While sitting in the Sibirian "lager" he was awarded the human rights prize of the organisation "Reporter ohne Grenzen" (Reporters without borders)" in 2002.

He gets imprisoned first on the 20th November 1997 and has to spend 20 months in remand until a military court speaks the verdict on the journalist (at that time for the Boevaia Vakhta=Battle Watch) with a military rank of a captain on the 20th of July 1999. A second trial dealing with his first court session is finally confirming the initial imprisonment, sending him finally to the place near Wladiwostok. The Russian authorities succumb to feeling of being surrounded by spies both from outside and from its own people (see Human Rights Watch summary here).
After his release which was loudly demanded by protesters in Moscow and publicly issued by Amnesty International the problems for Pasko don't end; in July 2003 after his release a court in Moscow confirms the decision of the 3rd Visa Authority in refusing to hand him back his international passport. But Pasko is not giving in to judiciary arbitrariness. While he was still sitting in jail, he is writing on the first issues of a new ecological oriented journal, "Ekologiya i pravo" ("Ecology and Law"), where he is listed until today as editor. Again it takes Russia obviously a few years to understand that the countries greatest assets are met in courageous men like Pasko or Nikolai and Tatiana Shchur who dare to speak out for Russia and it's future.

Omsk, the gateway to Siberia

2005-09-26T06:56:00.000-07:00

I am curious at times. I wanted to go to Siberia and ended up in Omsk. A metropolis that disguised itself as a small country town but has the charme of a sleeping beauty.

The following picture shows an impressive view from space on the city. To achieve that, I boarded on the last PROTON-launch from Bajkonur.

(Courtesy of transsib.ru)

A closer look at Omsk reveals a few more details:

(Courtesy of Google 2005)

From space you can see a few interesting features about Omsk. First the airport. It is also one of the two main entry points into the city. Flights usually arrive from Moscow with Aeroflot or Sibir. But the city of Omsk also has its "own" airline, the Omskavia. The airline has around 10 Tu-154 (who dares to enter them) and offers flight especially to German cities like Hannover, Frankfurt and Cologne.

The other main entry point to the city is the station, a halt for the Transsib railway (by the way you can see the railway as a thin dark line in the first picture).

(Courtesy of transsib.ru)

The more interesting parts of Omsk conprise the riverfront and the river boat station. The there is an icehockey team, a theater, a few more or less international known universities a nice market (ahem,..) and also a huge library (named after Pushkin himself) with almost no budget for new books. Omsk used to be a closed city in the past, probably related to the tank production facilities (OMSKTRANSMASH GUP (State Unitary Enterprise "Transport Mechanical Engineering Plant").

Walking around Omsk can be quite nice a times, but of course it is harder in winter as some streets are in bad shape. A nice tour through the city can be found here from sibtours.com.
Still, it can be quite difficult for young people to find jobs that really matter. It is not unlikely that 50% or more of a last graduate class will either move to Moscow or St. Petersburg or go abroad. Well,..one day this brain drain might be reversed but when is unclear.

But there are signs of hope. In November 2005, a group of 80 representatives from Omsk flew to Berlin to present themselves in the German Ministry of Economics and to promote their region for foreign investors, especially from Germany. Osmk is claiming to have strong links to Germany (the "Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit GTZ" and the "Goethe-Institut" being present there). And not to forget there is this very personal link that I have with the city, and at the end that is all that really counts :-)

Meet the Iden-Zellers

2005-09-14T00:34:00.000-07:00

Thought you done it all, he? Fsjo? Toutes les choses? Wirklich alles?
Enter Anita und Oskar Iden-Zeller.

(picture published in his book 1914 with the Reclam-Verlag, Germany)

Sometimes man feels the call of destiny, that (s)he is to be awaited by adventures and new frontiers and maybe a record in the history books. Well, adventurers they had, but today both Anita and Oskar Iden-Zellers are almost forgotten. We want to change that. Now.

(Taken around 1905; courtesy of Library of Congress, Washington D.C.)

It was said that Oskar Iden-Zeller was the first white man to cross the Tschaun Mts., Siberia, on foot. Around 1904 Oskar Iden-Zeller first ventured deep into siberia, also publishing a book about his ventures. A highly fascinating and amusing piece of travel literature.

(The picture is taken from the book "Der Weg der Tränen", published 1926 by Reclam Leipzig)

Anita Iden-Zeller also wrote an unbelievable account of her journey to Russia. Together with her husband she planned to move into Russia in 1913. One year before the 1st World War... Eleven years the couple was held in Siberia. Arriving as ethnologists to explore the ethnic people of the Far East and the sub-arctic region, they suddently became isolated and trapped in a country that took foreigners as a potential negotiation power and threw them into prison. Managing to return home in the middle of the 1920s the couple broke up, but Anita Iden-Zeller kept up the legacy of their unbelievable journey and published her diary accounts.

Westerners and especially Germans have always been fascinated by the wild empty spaces of Siberia. Opposites attract, the small crowded Germany against the "endless" plains behind the Ural. Other samples of people venturing into the great emptiness are Otto Heller, Hardy Krüger, Klaus Bednarz, Kate Marsden, Egon Richter, Hugo Portisch, Wilhelm Radloff, Otto Finsch, Traugott von Stackelberg and many more.
More recent trips included Colin Thubron (we will hear of him here shortly), Gerd Ruge, Thomas Roth and the German TV-series "Sternflüstern" sending families into a few month long adventure close to the Baikal Lake.
However, I think the fate of the Iden-Zellers can only be compared with those that went into prison in Siberia and managed to flee like Josef Martin Bauer, Gottfried Buller, Leo Moenke or Joachim Haller. The stories of these men are appaling in their desire to flee from this country. They wanted to get out of it as fervently as Oskar and Anita Iden-Zeller wanted to venture into it.

The axes of eagle - Part 1, Belarus

2005-09-11T04:21:00.000-07:00

When talking about geostrategy, the name Russia had sort of disappeared from the agenda in the last couple of years. Russia, a serious factor? You must be kidding, that used to be in the old days of the cold war, the times when western societies thought of the average Russian as a monster who was planning nothing else then preparing for the invasion of Europe.
Now, after almost 15 years since the iron curtain came down, the first signs of a renewed foreign policy of the Russian state seem to emerge. Not always, do these new alliances show a reasonable and ethical dimension for either side, but they seem to become more obvious and factual.
The Russian eagle looks both to the west and the east with its double head (the foto shows a well known version from the "security service" FSB, the KGB successor, but the doule headed eagle is to be seen in virtuelly all heraldic images of the Russian state).

It probably takes endless postings to describe all the new axes that the eagle has observed in the last years (not to forget the historic ties to old allies from the Soviet era), so we start this series with one of the "closest" and at the same time most complicated axis members to Russia, Belarus.

* Belarus:
The "Center for Strategic and International Studies, CSIS" had briefly talked about the Russis-Belarus dilema in an article in 2000 when stating:

"...Russia’s Belarus dilemma can be formulated as two questions. Should Moscow continue the process of political integration with Belarus--which necessarily entails interaction with and support of the regime of President Aleksandr Lukashenko--in order to enjoy certain geopolitical, security and economic dividends? Or, should Moscow gradually give up the current bilateral “special relationship,” which depletes Russia’s financial resources, implicitly complicates the Russian-Western agenda, and threatens to bring negative effects for future relations between the two countries should the opposition one day come to power in Belarus?"

Then the Center for Defense Information (CDI), said in a brief in 2003 that:

"... In 1995 Russia and Belarus signed a friendship and cooperation treaty. In 1996 they agreed to form a Russia-Belarus "community." In 1997 there followed a treaty of union, envisaging a confederal structure in which each state would retain its sovereignty. Since then several supranational bodies have been set up, and a committee to draft a new constitution for the union is at work (though with no visible result).Putin's ascent to power has further slowed the process, as unlike Yeltsin he does not have close ties with Belarus. In summer 2002 Putin offended Lukashenko by proposing that Belarus simply be incorporated into Russia, leading to a temporary rift."

Not long ago (Feb. 2004), the gas trade contracts between Russia and Belrus ceased, mainly because of a steep increase in prices from the Russian side. Recognizing the powerful price pressure and its huge dependecy on foreign energy exports, Belarus obviously seems to become a bit more "icelandic" in its energy policy, thinking about geothermal solutions. What an interesting idea, Belarus (by the way known for its active geothermal potential, har har...) heating its people with energy from deep inside the earth. In 2004 and 2005, the gas "issue" had been on the table a few more times and officially is declared "resolved" today. However, irritations still linger around.

In late 2006, Lukaschenko will go for the 3rd period of his presidency. Moreover Putin and Lukaschenko seem not to be a nice couple. Putin still claims that Belarus has a Russian history and current link to the "mainland", the Belarussian president is still sour over the quarrels during the "war on gas" in early 2004. Still Putin might support Lukaschenko in his rally for 2006. As Vladimir Frolov from the Fund for Effective Politics, Moscow said in an interview in August 2005:

"...In Belarus, Russia lacks a pro-Russian candidate it can support in a way that would not be antagonistic to Lukashenko and could be sold to him as the best guarantee of his peaceful and honorable retirement. Moscow cannot place a bet on Mikhail Chyhir or Mikhail Marynich; even less so on pro-Western “democrats” like Anatoly Lebedzka, Mikola Statkevich, or Andrei Klimau. Their desire and intention to orient Belarus toward the EU and NATO is too obvious, and their lack of support for the Union State with Russia is too pronounced."

Victor and Julia (no more) we are coming! What colour is left? Pink, Orange,.... why not use water steam white, maybe at least some reference to geothermal activities...

The polycentric Susdal-Blues

2005-09-03T12:43:00.000-07:00

I visited Susdal in March/April 2005 during a journey along the Golden Ring, north-east of Moscow, that led us also to places like Jaroslavl, Nishni-Novgorod and Vladimir (which ist actually just 45 minutes by bus south of Susdal). I do not know why I chose to see Susdal that very day, but I probably was the only foreigner in that small town on the day.
Before talking about Susdal, we should be fair and approach the topic by giving it a chance. It was first mentioned in 1024, though probably inhabited earlier. Especially in the 13th,14th and 15th century (also again in the 17th), the little town became a very important religious centre in Russia, developing up to 15 (autonomous) cloisters or abbeys in its vicinity. Today or actually since 1992, the kremlin in the town is part of the UNESCO world heritage sites.

The first thing a visitor sees when arrivng is,.... the bus station. Being one of the most desolate places on earth it is situated 2 kilometers outside the towncenter, and I do not why but our bus stopped upon arrival from Valdimir there. Looking at the bus station can be a quite trying thing, for those who dare...

After waiting for 15 minutes a bus took us to the city center where we first looked a various monasteries´, who in general tend to be in an awful shape but which make up for a nice photo motive a few hundred meters away.
One of the nice things about Russia are always the bars, cafes and restaurants. So we decided, after a few religious impressions, to go into a nice cozy place not far from the central square of this place of almost 11ooo souls.
It took us about a tea and a salad length to find out that we would witness a post-burial family lunch before our eyes. When the family arrived we kindly retreated into the blinding snow and the religious polycentres of Susdal`s monasteries.

Trying to find a nice subsitute for the the cafe we stumbled into a Medovucha degustation hall, where we could try for a few roubles 9 different sorts of this honeywine, that tastes a bit like honey diluted in wine.

Medovucha, especially when drunken under this sobering sight of the city can have a quite opposite effect on the human physis. On that day, I personally decided that Medovucha was my personal answer to the cold shoulder the town had shown me in the hours before, with its empty streets and crumbling historic religious monuments. I suddenly felt like a true Russian, at least for a few minutes. I almost was tempted to dance and sing in the open square.

Quite interestingly, Susdal played also small interesting part in the German - Russian relationships. Being captured after the defeat of the German 6th army in Stalingrad, Generalfeldmarshall Friedrich Paulus obviously spent a few months in a prison in Susdal, from where he was openly proclaiming in 1944 the "Nationalkomitee Freies Deutschland", a kind of exile opposition to the NSDAP and he commanded Hitler to step down as a "Führer"...if only he had said this in 1933.

One last thing, that I learned in Susdal. Why do Russian monasteries on the countryside usually have two churches (a big main one, and a smaller one in a distance of a few dozen meters)? There is a big unheated church for summer and a smaller heatable one for the winter mass. Quite a clever happy end.

The Oligarchs are back

2005-09-02T09:06:00.000-07:00

Just a few days ago the highly recommendable ARTE TV channel (German-French initiative dating back a few years), had broadcasted a TV premiere of the film Oligarch.
The international critique has been widely mixed but the film shows us a few interesting things:

1. Russia is suffering from a hard time after wild years in the 1990s when many dubious businessmen took a hold of the countries assets.
2. Russian filmmaking is not sure how they should see the oligarchs today: evil (as Mr. Putin does or so-so as many refer to Mikhail Khodorkovsky)

Moreover it raises some other questions for the real world. Why did Khodorkovsky had to go to jail, while Mr. Abramowitsch is still smiling? We are surprised after watching the movie, and in our desparate situation we turn to the Economist for explanations.
There we read in the issue from Aug 11th 2005:

"...One possible explanation is that in Russia “the rules” are different from those in the West. They are also liable to change suddenly. Indeed, understanding that has been perhaps Mr Abramovich's greatest talent. With Boris Berezovsky, one of the original “oligarchs”, he is said to have helped choreograph Mr Putin's succession to Boris Yeltsin. But Mr Abramovich understood Mr Putin better than his partner. From his exile in London, Mr Berezovsky recently threatened to sue Mr Abramovich over what he claims was the illegal acquisition of his assets after he was chased out of Russia...
Mr Abramovich has been ingratiatingly generous to Mr Putin's government. He has pledged to finance a new national football stadium. In effect, he gave a stake in a TV company that he acquired from Mr Berezovsky to the Kremlin. That helped to prove that he was no political troublemaker. Despite his pharaonic lifestyle, in political terms Mr Abramovich's profile has always been low: as one experienced oligarch-watcher puts it, where others—however belatedly and self-interestedly—discovered political principles, Mr Abramovich “discovered compound interest”. He does not influence parliament or cultivate foreign dignitaries as Mr Khodorkovsky did. Chukotka may owe more to business than politics."

An other quite well known source, the Foreign Affairs Journal was recently summing it all up this way:

"...The jailing of Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky has revealed the fault lines running through the post-Soviet political economy. The reforms and privatization of the 1990s were so flawed and unfair as to make them unstable. A backlash was inevitable. Given Vladimir Putin's authoritarian tendencies, that backlash has proved equally flawed and unfair-and perhaps equally unstable."

Quite interestingly, the film "Oligarch" is making the connections between Russian politics and businessmen, between the law of the organized crime and the organized crime of the law. But to be broadcasted in Russia it carefully had to avoid making direct connections between "gospodin president" and his political apparatus. Russians might think, "if only Putin would know about what happens, he would do something about it". I guess he knows quite well, but what can a single person do...;-?

Well then, we better not pour our millions in dodgy political forums or parties but steadily invest them for the benefit of the real Russian oligrach in the Kremlin.

So all you Oligarchs out there, which face do you like better?

A very interesting survey was conducted by the German "Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung" in 2004, asking Russians about their "economic elite" and the role of the oligarchs in every day life. When asked what their viewpoints towards Oligarchs were, they said:
66,9% = indifferent, no special viewpoint
21,1& = negative viewpoint
7,5% = positive viewpoint
4,5% = does not know what an oligarch is
Especially the last group evokes sympathy from the western spectator, because I think these people probably know very well, what they were asked about but stand above those questions, either because their stoic attitude absorbs all sociopolitical affairs, or because it was the oligarchs themselves, who responded with "no clue",...

For those who want to invest more time I recommend the excellent (german-speaking site) by Netstudien.de about the oligarchs and how they became what they were. Ahh,...that feels better now,..can I see that movie again please, it was so refreshing.

Schiehallion enters the BLOG-World

2005-06-16T01:02:00.000-07:00

As I went back into the garden, looking at the clouding sky and the rumble in the distance, suddenly an enormous lightning rod drove down just 3 meters in front of me into the picknick basket that I had prepared just 2 minutes before I quickly returned into the house to fetch some sugar for the tea.

The above text has actually nothing to do with what this blog is about, but I once heard that one should start a text always with a shocker to attract attention by readers.
Finally, with some years behind the overall trend, shiehallion steps on the stage of blogs. Not exactly knowing if we will drive this past any noteworthy status, we will try to share our views on some issues and thoughts of life in both Germany and Russia. Maybe we will also write about other things like hiking in the mountains, dog races or the next best superstar, but at this stage I dont really know yet.

First of all, here is my name patron. Quite interestingly, I never climbed it, never saw it, never been besides it. I just found the name cool. (How simple things can be in life).