Word: moscow
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...With Russian dissidents being murdered in Moscow and London, do you see a new type of Russian totalitarianism? No, but Russia is such a unique creation. It has always been under some form of dictatorship and does not know by experience what democracy is. But Russian politics and society are so complex I don't dare go into an analysis...
...West being tough enough in its response to Moscow over these allegations? The West in general should stand up more for its own values. It is not always worthwhile to compromise...
...ungratefulness and intransigence in the ugly quarrel over energy prices and pipelines. He said that Russia had virtually subsidized the neo-Stalinist regime of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko over the past five years. Now the Belarussians' illegal tapping of tens of thousands of tons of oil had forced Moscow to shut down the pipeline that runs through Belarus - inconveniencing not just Russian oil companies but their energy-hungry customers farther to the west, including Germany and Poland. [German Chancellor Angela Merkel today criticized both Moscow and Minsk for what she called "unacceptable" behavior. Germany gets a fifth...
...Indeed, the rhetoric in Moscow has become bellicose when the subject comes to Belarus. The state-run TV channel has started calling the Lukashenko regime "impulsive and fraudulent," with political commentary depicting Belarus as a virtual enemy state, rather than an erstwhile ally. The fear in Belarus is that Russia is using energy supplies as a cudgel to take over Belarus' economy in order to forcibly reintegrate Belarus into the Russian federation. Indeed, Lukashenko played on those fears at the Orthodox Christmas rites last night at the Minsk Cathedral, delivering a pledge to preserve Belarus' sovereignty. But now with Europe...
...delay has angered Putin, believes Lilia Shevtsova, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center. Putin's second and final term as Russian President ends in 2008, and a successful reabsorption of Belarus would ensure his legacy as the first reunifier of the Slavic lands lost by his predecessors Mikhail Gorbachev and Yeltsin. Shevtsova also cites a more colorful theory: "Annexing Belarus could also create a legal way for Putin to stay on in the Kremlin." The constitution of the Russian Federation restricts any incumbent to two consecutive terms as President, but a new, expanded Federation could start with a clean...