12.08.2006 Russia, Moscow. Editor-in-chief of the Political news agency web site Boris Mezhuyev gives an interview.
Photo: Ilya Pitalev
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Russia: The Continuator of the Soviet Union
There is always a state occupying the place of the main foe of Russia. Someone in Europe must always remind Russia that it has recently been the bastion of totalitarianism. Poland used to play this role, demanding that Russia repent of the Katyn tragedy and the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Now Latvia wishes it could follow Poland.
Of course, Latvia is doomed to fail. Nevertheless, with the accusations of Russia, the government of Latvia seeks to unite society basing on the ideology of patriotism. Compared with other European states, Latvia seems most likely to conduct a hard line in its foreign relations: The more unstable society is, the more desperate its wish to offset its inner weakness with a tough line in foreign relations. Latvia, which was set up of the Duchies of Livonia, Courland and Latgale within the Russian Empire, and where Russians account for 30% of the population (more than in any other Baltic state), will naturally be more pushy and aggressive than the relatively homogeneous Lithuania.
However there is a crucial point in the demands of Latvia that need be sorted out. The matter is a so-called succession of Russia to the Soviet Union. The frequently used notion “succession of a state” doesn’t shed light on the legal aspect of the issue. Russia is no successor of the Soviet Union – all former Soviet republics are such successors, according to the treaty of December 4, 1991 signed before the CIS was established. Russia has an extended status – it’s the continuator of the Soviet Union. In other words, Russia retains the continuance of the former Soviet Union. The country is, in some way, the USSR reduced to one republic. And it was due to the international recognition of its continuator status that Russia retained its membership in the UN Security Council and the nuclear weapon monopoly (unlike any other former Soviet republic). And at the same time Russia has to pay off the lion’s share of the USSR debt.
Russia’s abandoning its continuator status might be the key target of the anti-Russian campaign. And the problem doesn’t lie only in the Russian membership in the UN Security Council, which Russia will lose in case it renounces the legacy of the Soviet Union. Abandoning this status, Russia will never be reputed the center of post-Soviet integration. If the continuance is terminated, the country will become another part of the former Communist Empire, just like Ukraine or Moldova. It won’t play a bigger role than these republics. It will lose its status of “Great Britain” of the Russian “Commonwealth”, proceeding into “Canada” – the largest state of once united territories without any bid to become a new center of integration. This will mean that the hopes of a geopolitical renascence of the Soviet land are dashed.
Boris Mezhuev, Editor-in-chief of the “Russian magazine”
All the Article in Russian as of Apr. 29, 2008
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