The circus
The circus
Today, we are not going to write about the biggest story of the week in Moscow.
You couldn’t ignore the story, because it was everywhere. Let’s start with the English-language media.
Russian Minister Held in Biggest Putin-Era Corruption Case
Ulyukayev’s Arrest Is a Tectonic Convulsion for the Russian Government
Official accusations of bribery likely hide elite competition over a shrinking economic pie
Putin circle nervous as corruption probe widens
Fears over whether Ulyukaev arrest is power struggle or political move
Wow! That is such a big story! Of course, we all understand what it means. At last, Putin is purging his government of corruption. Things are happening! Things are changing! Okay, so nobody seems to have a clue about what those changes might be, but no matter. This is seismic!
Sorry to disappoint you. No, it isn’t, and we’re not going to write about it. Why are we not going to write about the arrest of the Economic Development Minister? Because it means absolutely nothing; it heralds nothing, it signals nothing; it changes nothing. Why are we so convinced that it means nothing? Here’s why.
Nothing that happens inside the “Putin circle” matters any more, because there is no circle, there is only a circus, playing for your entertainment, all the while carrying on exactly as it has done, with no intention of making any changes whatsoever, not to the economy, not to anything else that desperately needs changing.
How do we know that? Well, we knew for certain that our cynicism about this supposedly newsworthy event was spot on, when State TV announced the arrest of the unfortunate Mr Ulyukaev beneath an enormous banner announcing “The Fight Against Corruption.” And we were even more convinced that we had this story right when Prime Minister Medvedev told an extraordinary (note the emphasis on “extraordinary”) cabinet meeting that, “this is an extraordinary event for the government and the authorities of the country in general. No one in the government, not a minister, not a deputy, not a governor, not any other civil servant has immunity from prosecution for corruption.” If only we could believe him.
So, we’ll come out and say exactly what we think about this story. Bullshit. It’s just a trumped-up story. We don’t buy that narrative; and we are not going to give it houseroom.
Only that left us with nothing to write about today. There were plenty of other things going on elsewhere in Europe that we could write about; of the whirlwind variety, as President Obama flew around Europe saying goodbye, and assuring everybody he met that his successor would soon understand what it meant to be the leader of the free world, while, back in Trump Tower, the president-elect was disproving that optimism with every decision he makes.
But enough of the gridlock and chaos on 5th Avenue. Today, we are going to write about an event that surprised us, that gives us cause for optimism, sitting as we were in the audience on Wednesday for the opening plenary session of the Boris Nemtsov Forum in Brussels. We were surprised because we understood something that perhaps we had not dared to hope for, that for so long had seemed to be out of our grasp: the realisation that we were not the only ones not buying the fictitious narrative being written in the Kremlin – not just the Ulyukaev story, but any story – sent out and duly picked up by the world’s media, reinforcing the double-speak that passes for government in Moscow.
Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, gave the opening address. We listened and we heard a counter-narrative.
“Sanctions have been imposed and are regularly renewed as a result of the illegal annexation of Crimea and because of the unfulfilled commitments by Russia regarding the 2015 Minsk agreement. We still expect full respect of the ceasefire in force since 31 August, a disarmament of all illegal groups and a restoration of control of the state border to the Ukrainian government. Russia’s air support to the Syrian regime’s indiscriminate targeting of civilian areas have caused further dismay. And I also hear from other leaders in our Member States and partners in the Balkans and in our Eastern neighbourhood – many are worried about hostile actions orchestrated by the Russian leadership.
These are difficult times for our relations with Russia.
Our official interparliamentary relations with, and missions to, Russia are frozen because of our counterparts’ involvement in the conflict in Ukraine and the respective visa bans. Contacts with the civil society in Russia are also hampered due to the authorities targeting independent NGOs through the so-called “foreign agents law”.
However, dialogue will continue and must continue. Channels of communication need to remain open whilst respecting the EU sanctions’ policy. Only through dialogue will we maintain the slim chance to solve our differences.”
The Kremlin would have been listening. But you notice that the president of the European Parliament was addressing a forum of the Russian opposition in Brussels, the heart of Western Europe. When he talks about dialogue, he means not only a dialogue with the Putin circus, he now clearly intends to talk with those members of Russian society who represent perhaps the only way out of the impasse that he, Mr Schulz, described.
The Kremlin rhetoric has run its course. And that is why we are not writing about the arrest of the Economic Development Minister – because the circus has left town.
