cafebabel.com

Why I like Putin for president: young Russians speak

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:57:35 -0000

Russia will be going to the polls on 4 March 2012. Approval ratings indicate that Vladimir Putin is highly likely to be voted in for a third term as president. The current prime minister’s politics and image makes human rights activists and western politicians shudder. So what is it about him that makes the Russian tick?

Strategy 31: Russians protest for right to demonstrate

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:24:18 -0000

Just a fortnight after the ‘indignant’ protests of Europe, Russians are marching onto their streets and into their squares. However, their motive isn't the greed of those in power but rather the violation of their right to peaceful assembly. Alexandra reports from Saint Petersburg

Elections 2012: glimpses of social network Putin-bashing

('Alexandra',) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:15:13 -0000

On 7 October, the 59th birthday of Vladimir Putin, one pro-kremlin activist composed a couplet with a nod to a soviet-era poem, ending with the words ‘thanks for this Putin’. The rhyme provoked a deluge of tweeted criticism levelled at the Russian prime minister. Could this be the beginning of a protest wave?

Swiss, Spanish, German and Czech media on role-swapping Putin and Medvedev

('euro topics',) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 11:27:28 -0000

The Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin announced his candidacy for the presidential elections in March. The current Kremlin chief Dmitry Medvedev would take his job in parliamentary elections on 4 December... get it? This swap would cement Russia's reputation as an authoritarian state and bring the country to a political standstill, cry the EU media

WikiLeaks: Europe’s ruling class according to Washington

('victor escandell',) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:30:00 -0000

The whistleblowing site has turned the skin of international politics inside-out so people can see its capillaries, arteries and cartilages. This bloody network - 250, 000 documents have been taken from the American state department - includes natural portrayals of many European leaders. From the complex and absolutist Sarkozy to Berlusconi’s hangovers, a review of Europe through Uncle Sam’s eyes

Slovakian actresses and North Caucasus terror in Moscow bomb attack

('euro topics',) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:00:00 -0000

35 people died and more than 150 were wounded in a bomb attack on Moscow's Domodedovo Airport on 24 January. If its proved that the suicide attacker was of North-Caucasian origin, it demonstrates once again Russia's inability to defuse the powder keg in the North Caucasus, say the Slovakian, Spanish, Polish and German press

Young Poles react: Lech Kaczynski death, 'second Katyn tragedy'

('Hanna Sankowska',) — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 21:13:38 -0000

In the same place where the Polish elite was executed 70 years ago, a new Polish elite dies in a horrid aircrash, that leaves Poles at home and abroad in a state of shock. Young Poles across Europe help demystify the tragedy

Temuri Iakobashvili: 'Russia loves Georgia; they just don’t love the Georgian state'

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:15:33 -0000

Obama in Russia, G8, ‘military exercises’ - the post-August war scene looks set to reach 100 political degrees celsius. The vice prime minister of Georgia, 42, on his young political generation, family and mutual love

War: Russia shows who is boss after bombs on Georgia

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:24:47 -0000

On 12 August, the Russian president announced an 'end to military operations' against Georgia, which the latter claimed continued. The Kremlin's intervention shows who wears the geopolitical trousers in the Caucasus region, which comprises breakaway regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia

UK, Russia: a new Iron curtain?

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Two out of three British Council offices were deemed 'illegal' and closed down in Russia in January. A reflection on ties between the Kremlin and London

Putin, prime minister in 2008?

('Nicholas Dobson',) — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0000

On 26 October, the EU-Russia summit in Mafra, Portugal could reveal the Tsar's energy policy or Kremlin successor ambitions. Poet and art critic Dmitry Golinko provides a Russian reaction

The Kremlin surprise package

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 12:00:00 -0000

In March 2008 Russia's presidential elections will be held. Although no single one seems capable of taking the lead, candidates are appearing at the pace of mushroom growth