UNITED STATES POSITIONS ITSELF BEFORE ELECTIONS
by Alexander Gabuyev
Translated by Elena Leonova

Source: Kommersant, April 7, 2007, pp. 1, 4
Agency WPS
What the Papers Say Part B (Russia)
April 9, 2007 Monday

US State Department starts its preparations for elections in Russia

US State Department looks at the democracy situation in Russia;
The United States has started making active preparations for the
upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections in Russia. The US
State Department has released a report entitled "Supporting Human
Rights and Democracy: The US Record 2006," which devotes substantial
attention to Russia and the CIS.

The United States has started making active preparations for the
upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections in Russia. The US
State Department has released a report entitled "Supporting Human
Rights and Democracy: The US Record 2006," which devotes substantial
attention to Russia and the CIS. The United States spent $1.2 billion
on supporting democracy worldwide last year. The 262-page report
permits us to draw the conclusion that a substantial part of that
money went into democratization in Russia and the CIS.

The report’s attitude to the democracy situation in Russia is made
clear from the very first page of its "Europe and Eurasia" section.

The cover photo is from an Anna Politkovskaya memorial rally in central
Moscow, with the brief caption: "Russian rights activists commemorate
victims of political repression." The first page features a single
quote, on a blood-red background: "How could I live with myself if
I didn’t write the truth?" And the signature: "Anna Politkovskaya,
murdered Russian journalist."

This whole section is almost entirely devoted to former Soviet
countries (Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova,
Ukraine). There are only a few paragraphs about the former Yugoslavia
(Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo), and a brief mention of Turkey.

The report starts by listing the main achievements of democracy in
these countries during 2006 (primarily the March 2006 election in
Ukraine). Then there’s a list of democracy’s main defeats – and the
greatest of these, in the US State Department’s view, are the "erosion
of civil society in Russia and Belarus," and "a new and restrictive
NGO law," and "physical attacks on journalists." The report goes on
to describe how the United States is working to counter this. It
emphasizes the "administration of fairly-contested elections," as
these are "a barometer of a country’s democratic health."

According to the report, the United States actively facilitated
democratic processes in the former Soviet Union last year. It mentions
"supporting political parties in Belarus" and "monitoring elections
in Ukraine."

But the US State Department doesn’t confine itself to listing last
year’s achievements on the battlefront for democracy; it also sets
some goals for the future. The most important of these are as follows:
"support of free and fair elections in Russia for the Duma in December
2007 and for president in March 2008," and transparent elections in
Armenia. The US State Department regards the OSCE and the European
Union as its key partners in this.

The report notes that active efforts in this area were underway
throughout 2006. In Russia, the United States organized "training
for political parties and training for mass media representatives on
covering political issues," as well as voter awareness measures.

What’s more, Washington’s preparations for the Russian elections
clearly aren’t restricted to working with opposition parties. Last
year, the United States provided grants to "civil society groups, NGO
resource centers, advocacy and watchdog groups, policy think tanks,
business associations, and labor unions."

In addition to providing financial aid, Washington also involved its
diplomatic representatives in Russia. As the report notes, senior US
officials are meeting with Russian opposition movements and NGOs. The
report maintains that the major achievement in this area was the
meeting between US Administration officials and leaders of the Other
Russia movement in July 2006.

The US State Department’s latest report is an extension of the report
it released in March: "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for
2006." That report also allocated one of the central places to Russia
and the rest of the former Soviet Union.

Mikhail Margelov, chairman of the Federation Council’s international
affairs committee, says it’s hardly surpising that the United States is
showing increased interest in Russian democracy issues. Margelov told
us: "As the American elections approach, the Republicans are trying
to prove to the Democrats that although the Bush Administration has
expanded cooperation with President Putin, it hasn’t forgotten about
the problems in Russia. Both the Republicans and the Democrats share
a messianic idea: everyone must be democratized. Thus, the only point
they can agree on is criticism of Russia."

All the same, the latest report doesn’t confine itself to criticizing
Russia and the CIS. In the March report, the US State Department was
mostly concerned with analyzing and evaluating the democracy situation
in Russia. The new report essentially outlines the key directions of
US efforts to democratize the former Soviet Union. The emphasis is
on preparations for democratic elections – especially in Russia and
those CIS countries which are Moscow’s closest allies.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress