http://democraticpiece.com/2008/01/14/russian-democracy-ngo-opens-in-new-york-city/ Tentative conclusions on democracy & governance Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:38:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 http://democraticpiece.com/2008/01/14/russian-democracy-ngo-opens-in-new-york-city/#comment-592 Tim Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:28:43 +0000 http://democraticpiece.com/2008/01/14/russian-democracy-ngo-opens-in-new-york-city/#comment-592 Since when has Russians became experts in democracy? They have not been democratic that long, How would they even know what that is? It is a typical ploy that muddles the facts and brings confusion regarding the existing democracy that they have labeled sovereign or managed democracy. I would think thst a country that is still developing its democracy would be glad to accept suggestions onj how they could include its citizenry and improve its democratic development. The fact may be that Vladimir Putin served in the FSU and his pride has not been able to stomach the west's development governmentally. Supportinmg fact: he has retained many of his old KGB pals and the FSB has become more and more authoratative. Since when has Russians became experts in democracy? They have not been democratic that long, How would they even know what that is? It is a typical ploy that muddles the facts and brings confusion regarding the existing democracy that they have labeled sovereign or managed democracy. I would think thst a country that is still developing its democracy would be glad to accept suggestions onj how they could include its citizenry and improve its democratic development. The fact may be that Vladimir Putin served in the FSU and his pride has not been able to stomach the west’s development governmentally. Supportinmg fact: he has retained many of his old KGB pals and the FSB has become more and more authoratative.

]]> http://democraticpiece.com/2008/01/14/russian-democracy-ngo-opens-in-new-york-city/#comment-403 Grigorii Golosov Sat, 01 Mar 2008 15:04:06 +0000 http://democraticpiece.com/2008/01/14/russian-democracy-ngo-opens-in-new-york-city/#comment-403 I believe that the following information is important for understanding the context within which the ‘Institute for Democracy and Cooperation’ was established. The initial impulse for creating this institute came from Vladimir Putin’s comments made at Russia – EU conference in Portugal in October 2007. In his comments, Mr Putin referred to EU-funded advocacy of democracy in Russia as to something that should be matched by Russia’s similar activities in Europe and elsewhere. When explaining these comments, Putin’s aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky said that Mr Putin meant the European University at St. Petersburg that received a EU grant to implement a project on election monitoring in Russia. As a director of the mentioned project, the Inter-Regional Electoral Network of Assistance (IRENA), I would like to draw the attention of your readers to the following facts. Starting with June 2007, the IRENA project experienced continuous harassment from the Russian authorities. After a series of inspections that did not prove anything illegal in project-related activities, the Russian authorities attacked the recipient of the grant, the European University at St. Petersburg. In February 2008, the European University was closed by the authorities on a ridiculous pretext of ‘fire safety violations’. At about the same time, the ‘Institute for Democracy and Cooperation’ started to operate in Paris and New York. I believe that the following information is important for understanding the context within which the ‘Institute for Democracy and Cooperation’ was established. The initial impulse for creating this institute came from Vladimir Putin’s comments made at Russia – EU conference in Portugal in October 2007. In his comments, Mr Putin referred to EU-funded advocacy of democracy in Russia as to something that should be matched by Russia’s similar activities in Europe and elsewhere. When explaining these comments, Putin’s aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky said that Mr Putin meant the European University at St. Petersburg that received a EU grant to implement a project on election monitoring in Russia. As a director of the mentioned project, the Inter-Regional Electoral Network of Assistance (IRENA), I would like to draw the attention of your readers to the following facts. Starting with June 2007, the IRENA project experienced continuous harassment from the Russian authorities. After a series of inspections that did not prove anything illegal in project-related activities, the Russian authorities attacked the recipient of the grant, the European University at St. Petersburg. In February 2008, the European University was closed by the authorities on a ridiculous pretext of ‘fire safety violations’. At about the same time, the ‘Institute for Democracy and Cooperation’ started to operate in Paris and New York.

]]>