It’s all going a bit mental in the former Soviet Union, in case you hadn’t noticed. Siberian Light’s weekly news roundup has some concerning and potentially important stories which the western media certainly doesn’t seem to have picked up on much. Some highlights:
- 10,000 protest against the President of Bashkortostan, an autonomous republic in the Volga region, hoping to emulate Kyrgyzstan. Last month, hundreds of protestors were arrested and beaten
- Protests too in the Russian republic of Ingushetia against Putin’s man in charge
- And even Ukraine’s Orange Revolution isn’t necessarily safe, as Russian marines “accidentally” invade the Crimea
- Perhaps in response to these recent popular protests, Putin is also threatening to withdraw Russia’s contributions to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe unless it drops its emphasis on democracy and human rights
After the surprise events in Kyrgyzstan, which not a single “expert” on the region managed to predict the outcome of, any of these could turn out to be something major…
However, the one from Siberian Light’s excellent roundup that is most likely to make the news: Moscow has invited North Korean maniac Kim Jong Il to celebrate the 60th anniversary of VE Day in Moscow. US President George W Bush has already confirmed he will be attending. This could turn out to be a nice diplomatic incident…