Luzhkov and Latvia

seven839, Joe aka JOYE, other patriots ....

GOODBYELENIN.RU is calling all Russians !!

Instead of worrying about Luzhkov you should turn your attention to the results of the United Russia poll which shows that so far
more than 200,000 Russians have expressed their on online support for the re-burial of Vladimir Lenin.

Keep checking the poll results on the goodbyelenin.ru website that has a clear question "Do you back the idea of burying the body of Vladimir Lenin?" While you have a "Yes" or "No" option, make sure to vote YES !

Now that Latvia (and most likely Estonia and Lithuania) have declared Yuri Luzhkov 'persona non grata', and Austria has reportedly joined the ranks (despite Elena's substantial investment capital), where else could the 'poor' couple go ?

One rumor has Luzhkov moving (with Putin's blessing) to serve as a special envoy to the Peoples Republic of Abkhasia... That would be a warmer destination than Moscow, but then why doesn't Elena negotiate an investment deal in some Cuban resort development ? Can't beat the advantages of a tropical climate and Cuban's friendly sentiments to Moscow !

Luzhkov doesn't need a schengen visa from Latvia.
This is a tactical move....probably against some as yet unknown factor in Riga.

I don't even believe Luzhkov wants to live in that depressed antiquated state with omnipresent corruption.

There's other pieces to this puzzle, these will all start to appear in good time...probably to do with the Riga money Launderette, Parex's dodgy dealings and something to do with Switzerland.

You don't get rich by being stupid, and the super rich are not stupid, not even guys like him!

@Didomyk; what is your point, are you blaming Putin for sacking Luzhkov? You cannot have it both way.

Two developments can be expected after this:
1. An official Russian statement saying that Luzhkov is free to go wherever, and do whatever, he wants.
2. Luzhkov being charged with bringing Russia into disrepute for implying that 1. may not be true.

He probably never intended on residing in Latvia as there is no minimum stay requirement for the 5-year residency visa which allows unrestricted travel within Schengen.

The only thing why Luzhkov wants to move to Latvia is just that afterwords he will receive a visa and will be able to travel around all the EU countries.. And he thinks that Latvia is the easiest way to get it..

Vanes Sirac wrote: "I have a theory that it's actually a Russian strategy to morally justify claims of their "Sphere of influence" - in the sense that "those miserable Baltic lands" need to be controlled by Russia.."

Well, its not your theory, its a centuries old reality that made the blue-blooded Russians regard the Baltic States, Finland, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova etc. part of their imperial inheritance. Many Russians would also include a greater part of Poland, i.e. the lands beyond the Vistula allocated to the Russian empire following the division of the territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth between the Prussian empire, the Austrian empire and the Russian empire.
The Hitler-Stalin pact of August 1939 facilitated Russia's control over most of the territories that were "lost" to the empire after the unsucessful 1920 war between Lenin's bolsheviks and the reborn Polish army under Pilsudsky. At that time Lenin and his Politburo had to accept the independence of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia but they and their Russian successors (including Putin) have never given up Russian imperial appetite to re-occupy the Baltic lands.
Let's not forget that the post-World War II western Soviet borders were drawn by Stalin and approved by Churchil at their Yalta conference with Roosevelt demonstrating his indifference. The people of the three Baltic states paid very dearly for their opposition to Soviet re-occupation in the fall of 1944, which generated mutual animosity and strong suspicion of all Russian future intentions.

susan_sto_helit wrote: Luzhkov "...become a champion of democracy and critic of Russia's evil regime."

A good joke aimed at Luzhkov who for almost two decades was a high ranking member of Putin's 'Nashi' and very much part of the 'evil regime'. Thanks to all the party connections, reinforced by the authority of the Mayor of Russia's capital, the Luzhkov family became super rich oligarchs. Sure, some like to give credit to his wife's business "talents" but most of the super-profits from construction contracts were paid from the city or regional budgets.

@ P_P
*about 50 persons had applied for residence permit in the couple of months since the changes were announced - nearly all of them Russian passport holders*

The latest data (Dec.'10 incl.) states -- 237 citizens of Russia.

But my point sounds differently: according to mainstream ethnic Latvians thinking, it's perfectly OK to be a Russian from Russia even (or moreover) if you're applying for residency permit. Then, see, you're 'real' Russian. If you're a Russian-speaker living (and, worse, born and, God forbid, holder of Latvia's citizenship) in Latvia -- you're just lost on your way to 'real' Fatherland and should be shown the right way to it.

I used to be surprised to see how so many Russians are hostile towards Baltic states. Russians often calls them "nazi" states, which seems odd from the perspective of how Europeans see nazism; Just to remind of few things related to nazism:

1. Anti-jew pogroms (naturally, the word comes from Russian) were much more frequent in Russia, including Stalin's anti-jew purges AFTER the Second World War
2. Russia (more precisely, Soviet Union, in the infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop pact) pacted with Nazi Germany in order to conquer those lands with Hitler's consent.
3. No Russian has any problems with Germany itself being again a strategic partner of Russia.

I have a theory that it's actually a Russian strategy to morally justify claims of their "Sphere of influence" - in the sense that "those miserable Baltic lands" need to be controlled by Russia to protect them from nazism and moral decay. Perhaps some Russians also regret that Baltic states westernized and prosper better than Russia even without the enormous supply of natural resources that Russia has? You do not have to use Luzhkov's case: there are plenty of Russians in Latvia and Estonia (and elsewhere in CEE) who want and will stay there, although these states are not really welcoming towards their national feelings. It just seems that Russians have problems with admitting that CEE states are actually nice places to live after dissolution of Soviet empire.

@Cynic

If my memory serves me correctly, about 50 persons had applied for residence permit in the couple of months since the changes were announced - nearly all of them Russian passport holders. Hmm, a trickle of Russians willing to invest and/or to reside in a Russophobic and ethnocratic place... Weird, huh? :)

So, Latvia's governing elite is not at all that Russophobic as advertised. One would even say that certain symptoms of Kremlinophiliac rash appears more and more visibly on its nice European-looking face.
Luzhkov was blacklisted in order not to irritate (at least) or to please (more probably) Kremlin.
All that however does not mean that the said governing elite is not Russophobic and ethnocratic when it comes to dealing with local Latvia's own Russophones. See, according to its way of thinking 'real' or 'good' Russians live not in Latvia, but somewhere else (Russia proper is the best, but Ireland, UK, Israel, Germany and US qualify as well). :-)

@P_P

In 2000 Lee S. Wolosky (then International Affairs Fellow at the US Council on Foreign Relations and Deputy Director of the Council's Economic Task Force on Russia) writes in International Affairs

"these oligarchs -- Boris Berezovsky, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Roman Abramovich, Mikhail Fridman, and others -- largely co-opted Yeltsin's governments, silencing most opposition to their conduct. As a consequence,(...)The oligarchs dominate Russian public life through massive fraud and misappropriation(...)
Through payoffs and intimidation, they have insinuated themselves into electoral politics and virtually immunized themselves from prosecution. None of Russia's problems -- neither its crippled economy, nor its emaciated infrastructure, nor its wheezing democracy -- will be solved while the robber barons retain their power."
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/55843/lee-s-wolosky/putins-plutoc...

Of course we know what happened later on (Putin tamed the oligarchs by making a 'deal' with them)... still there is no reason for foreign governments to grant asylum to those robber barons, so I would say Latvia is behaving responsibly as opposed to UK.

I mean - Berezovsky :)

You hear: *evil Russophobic, ethnocratic and fascist giggling* emanating from the hellhole :)

@susan_sto_helit

Yes, the minister of interior has apparently blacklisted him (he can try to appeal that decision in court), similar to how Berezovskis was blacklisted in 2005. Not sure how to feel about it, because Latvia's wish to have absolutely nothing to do with former Russian bigwigs who have fallen out of Putin's favor just became VERY conspicious...

Luzkov wanted to move to Latvia because it's close to Moscow and Riga is full of rich Russians. Apparently Latvia has rejected him.

He should move to London (his daughter are already there), protest against Putin on 31st with Berezovsky, become a champion of democracy and critic of Russia's evil regime.