January 16, 2003 - New York Times: New Wariness in Russia Toward Help From West

Peace Corps Online: Peace Corps News: Headlines: Peace Corps Headlines - 2003: 01 January 2003 Peace Corps Headlines: January 16, 2003 - New York Times: New Wariness in Russia Toward Help From West

By Admin1 (admin) on Friday, January 17, 2003 - 12:21 am: Edit Post

New Wariness in Russia Toward Help From West





Read and comment on this story from the New York Times that to be a renewed wariness and even outright hostility to what some Russians consider foreign interference in the country's internal affairs. The government's actions hardly herald a return to Soviet-like isolation. Nor are they unprecedented in democratic Russia, where two years ago a government-induced wave of spying mania swept the country, catching foreigners and Russians alike in a wave of espionage accusations that prompted new restrictions on cultural and scientific exchanges. Russia has historically struggled with xenophobia and suspicion of the outside world, the product, perhaps, of centuries of isolation and invasions. Officials and experts suggested that the latest moves reflected the latest struggle over the extent to which Russia's leaders should tolerate the surge of foreigners who swept into the country after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Read the story at:


New Wariness in Russia Toward Help From West*

* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.



New Wariness in Russia Toward Help From West

By STEVEN LEE MYERS

MOSCOW, Jan. 15 — Irene Stevenson, an American labor activist, had lived and worked in Russia since 1989. Late last year, her organization, an A.F.L.-C.I.O. affiliate financed by the United States government, counseled the union for air-traffic controllers as they threatened to strike.

On Dec. 30, when she returned to Moscow after a brief Christmas vacation, she was curtly turned away at the airport and denied entry even though her visa had been renewed a month before. Her name, it seems, is now on Russia's watch list as a threat to national security.

Ms. Stevenson's case might have been an isolated manifestation of Russia's opaque and often capricious bureaucracy, except that it was the latest in a series of moves against American and other foreigners working here. It is a troubling trend, American officials and experts said, that could undermine not only Russia's image as an emerging democracy but also its relations with the United States.

Three days before Ms. Stevenson's return to Moscow, the government announced that it was ending the work of the Peace Corps in Russia, having refused to renew the visas to 30 American volunteers four months earlier, in August. A day after Ms. Stevenson's expulsion, the government announced that it was ending the mandate of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's small mission overseeing the conflict in Chechnya.

A spokesman for the Kremlin, Aleksandr V. Machevsky, declined to discuss Ms. Stevenson's case except to say that Russia, like the United States, had a right to deny anyone a visa without explanation. Some officials attributed the actions to wounded pride — a feeling that Russia, as a once and perhaps future power, did not need aid from groups like the Peace Corps, whose mission is to assist developing nations.

Similarly, in October, when President Vladimir V. Putin revoked the special status conferred in 1991 on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — the American government radio networks created in the cold war to broadcast news and information — officials said that since Russia's press was now free, the Russians no longer needed American-financed networks for independent reporting.

Measures against foreigners appear to be becoming more stringent. On Jan. 7, a German journalist, Günter Wallraff, was turned away at the airport because, the Foreign Ministry later said, he planned to report on Chechnya, despite having applied only for a tourist visa. The same day, an American official with the O.S.C.E.'s office in Tajikistan, Meaghan Fitzgerald, was turned away as she tried to travel through Moscow to Dushanbe.

The reasons in each case — if a reason was given — were different, but underlying them all appeared to be a renewed wariness and even outright hostility to what some Russians consider foreign interference in the country's internal affairs.

In the cases of Ms. Stevenson and the Peace Corps, Russia's expulsions appear to contradict the spirit of Mr. Putin's agreements with President Bush to increase cultural and educational exchanges. More broadly, they appear to show that there are limits to Mr. Putin's efforts to torque Russia closer to the West.

"Nobody argues against the necessity of cultural exchanges," said Igor M. Bunin, director of the Center for Political Technologies, an influential research organization here. "But whenever the power feels its sovereignty is infringed, this is when old ambitions wake up."

The government's actions hardly herald a return to Soviet-like isolation. Nor are they unprecedented in democratic Russia, where two years ago a government-induced wave of spying mania swept the country, catching foreigners and Russians alike in a wave of espionage accusations that prompted new restrictions on cultural and scientific exchanges.

Russia has historically struggled with xenophobia and suspicion of the outside world, the product, perhaps, of centuries of isolation and invasions. Officials and experts suggested that the latest moves reflected the latest struggle over the extent to which Russia's leaders should tolerate the surge of foreigners who swept into the country after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Alexander R. Vershbow, the American ambassador, said the United States had raised the incidents with Russian officials. He suggested that the trend, if it continues, could undermine foreign investment and cool the general warming of relations with the United States.

"As more incidents accumulate," he said in an interview, "it's going to have consequences, irritating constituencies in the United States that have supported closer cooperation with Russia."
Advertisement


Ms. Stevenson was one of those. She had arrived in Russia before the Soviet Union's collapse and had stayed. Since 1992, she had led the American Center for Labor Solidarity, which provided educational programs and legal advice for Russia's unions. The organization, financed by the United States Agency for International Development, received $1 million in American funds this year.

Ms. Stevenson expressed doubt that the organization's role in the air-traffic controller's threatened strike was at the root of her visa problem, saying it had been limited to providing a lawyer for the union in a court hearing. The union lost its case in November but staged a wildcat hunger strike for several days in December that led to pay raises.

"Whatever contact we had with the air-traffic controllers is no different than the contact with any other unions," she said.

Of her expulsion, she said, "I keep hoping it is a mistake because I want to get back to my home."

The mood in Russia suggests that Ms. Stevenson may have to wait. Vladimir P. Lukin, the deputy speaker of the lower house of Parliament, said he opposed the decision to end the mission of the O.S.C.E. to work in Chechnya, but he said the international monitoring of Russia's behavior struck many as insulting.

"Such open monitoring has a sense of humiliation for us," he said in a radio interview on Ekho Moskvy, "and you always feel particularly humiliated when there is an element of truth in the fact that you're being viewed as something of a second-class citizen."

Other Americans singled out belong to organizations such as the Peace Corps, Radio Free Europe and the A.F.L.-C.I.O. that still suffer from cold-war perceptions, including suspicions that they were arms of American intelligence agencies.

After the Soviet Union collapsed, those suspicions died as policymakers surrounding President Boris N. Yeltsin welcomed all manner of American assistance in the heady days of Russia's emerging democracy. But with the ascendancy of Mr. Putin, a former colonel in the K.G.B., the intelligence services once again wield great influence, and lingering suspicions appear to be resurfacing as government policy.
Background on the Peace Corps in Russia



Read more background on the Peace Corps in Russia at:

Special Report: From Russia with Love 1 January 2003


Analysis of PC Expulsion from Russia
Russian-US ties strained over Peace Corps 15 January 2003
Russian Actions against Peace Corps make Foreigners Wonder Who Will Be Next 13 January 2003
A Russian looks at the Peace Corps and the Federal Security Service 8 January 2003


PCVs leaving Russia with regret
Peace Corps Volunteers leaving Russia with regret 14 January 2003


PC out of Russia in 90 days
Peace Corps to depart Russia within 90 days 10 January 2003


Russia Turns Away Labor Activist
Now Russia Turns Away U.S. Labor Activist 9 January 2003


PC Rep won't waste words on spying charges
Peace Corps' Man in Moscow won't waste words on the spying charges 5 January 2003


Peace Corps responds to Russian Allegations
Peace Corps responds to Russian suggestions of intelligence gathering 3 January 2003


Peace Corps disappointed with Russian decision
Exclusive: Peace Corps disappointed with Russian decision 27 December 2002


Moscow to abandon Peace Corps agreement
New York Times: Russia bars future U.S. Peace Corps workers 28 December 2002

Pravda: Moscow informs Washington of intention to abandon Peace Corps agreement 27 December 2002

Associated Press: Russia Rejects U.S. Peace Corps 27 December 2002


US Ready to Remove Peace Corps From Russia
U.S. Ready to Remove Peace Corps From Russia, Citing Disputes 17 December 2002


Russian Spy claims "groundless" says US
Russian claims about Peace Corps volunteers "groundless" says US Embassy 16 December 2002


KGB accuses PCVs of "suspicious activities"
Update: KGB Chief says PCVs involved in suspicious activities 15 December 2002

KGB chief accuses Peace Corps workers of spying in Russia 15 December 2002


KGB refuses visas to religious workers
Russia refuses visas to religious workers 2 November 2002


What RPCVs say about the situation
Exclusive: Read the advice RPCVs gave the Peace Corps in August 18 August 2002


Russia is cooling to the Peace Corps
Time Magazine says Russia "Cooling To the Corps" 23 August 2002

Radio Free Europe makes the Case for the Peace Corps in Russia 18 August 2002

Secretary of State Powell makes no progress on Peace Corps visas with Russian foreign minister 14 August 2002


Russia refuses visas for Peace Corps Volunteers
Peace Corps Moscow chief denies allegations of non-professionalism 13 August 2002

Russia Ousting Dozens Of Peace Corps Volunteers 12 August 2002



Click on a link below for more stories on PCOL

Top Stories and Discussion on PCOL
Improvements needed in Volunteer Support ServicesWhere the Peace Corps Bill stands
Dodd's Amended Bill passes in SenateElection 2002:  RPCVs run for office
Peace Corps Volunteers Safe in Ivory CoastA Profile of Gaddi Vasquez
Sargent Shriver and the Politics of Life911:  A Different America
USA Freedom Corps - "paved with good intentions"PCV hostage rescued from terrorists


Top Stories and Discussion on PCOL
GAO reports on Volunteer Safety and SecurityPeace Corps out of Russia?
Help the New Peace Corps Bill pass CongressUSA Freedom Cops TIPS Program
Senior Staff Appointments at Peace Corps HeadquartersFor the Peace Corps Fallen
Senator Dodd holds Hearings on New Peace Corps LegislationThe Debate over the Peace Corps Fund
Why the Peace Corps needs a Fourth GoalThe Peace Corps 40th plus one
The Case for Peace Corps IndependenceThe Controversy over Lariam
The Peace Corps and Homeland SecurityDirector Vasquez meets with RPCVs
RPCV Congressmen support Peace Corps' autonomyPeace Corps Expansion:  The Numbers Game?
When should the Peace Corps return to Afghanistan?Peace Corps Cartoons



Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Russia

PCOL2098
88

.


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: