Source: Day
The less time is left before the presidential election in Russia the more complicated the work of independent media including the foreign ones is getting. The other day the Federal Migration Service of Russia banished the famous French journalist and writer Anne Nivat from the country. According to her, at the interrogation the officials made it clear that her meetings with the opposition politicians were not any longer advisable. Last Monday it came out that the holding “Gazprom-media” which is the controlling shareholder of radio station Ekho Moskvy demanded to dismiss the board of directors and change the independent directors. The editor-in-chief of the radio station Aleksei Venediktov wrote in his Twitter micro blog that he and the deputy editor-in-chief Vladimir Varfolomeev would leave the board of directors. Venediktov also explained that changes in the board of directors do not imply any changes in the radio station’s policy since it is editor-in-chief’s responsibility. According to the statute of the radio station Aleksei Venediktov will remain the editor-in-chief for two more years.
What do such actions of “Gazprom-media” towards the famous and popular radio station Ekho Moskvy mean and how can they influence the Russian media in general?
Lilia Shevtsova, senior associate at the Carnegie Moscow Center:
“Just like most of the people outside the Kremlin I am not absolutely sure about the origin of decisions concerning Ekho Moskvy. However, the unexpected decision to shift the meeting of the board of directors from summer to March and exclusion of two respected independent directors Yevgenii Yasin and Aleksandr Makovski from the board make a tendency which is inevitable. Putin’s system and Putin’s team cannot keep the power in the liberal political atmosphere. Sooner or later, especially when the Kremlin feels the loss of control of the political life and growing dissatisfaction it will press the button of the repressive mechanisms. This is the logic of all the regimes. When they feel their weakness and vulnerability they do not ‘open the window.’ Such regimes try to keep the power through tightening the screw. This is their logic. All the regimes developed this way especially at the stage of decline.
“That is why a couple of months ago I wrote several articles saying that Putin’s regime would inevitably go this way. Don’t be daunted by the fact that before the presidential election in March the authorities allow certain displays of freedom. It has to finish sooner or later and the evidence of this is the fact that the Russian budget for 2012-14 provides for spending nearly a third of the money not on the social needs or national economy development but on militarization, defense and internal repressive bodies.
“Now it came to Ekho Moskvy that played a very important role in preserving the relatively liberal atmosphere. Actually, this radio station was a valve allowing the Russian and Moscow intelligentsia and opposition letting off steam. To some extent, Ekho Moskvy was an element of a Potemkin village. If this radio station exists it means that there is no authoritarian regime or dictatorship in Russia. Obviously, even Ekho Moskvy started irritating Putin. Even this radio station with its limited possibility to express the Russian political pluralism got dangerous for this political regime. Moreover, not long time ago we saw an outburst of Putin’s irritation towards Aleksei Venediktov in person and some programs of the radio station. It has to result in something.
“This is why the main shareholder of Ekho Moskvy ‘Gazprom-media’ close to the Kremlin decided to react to Putin and Kremlin’s administration’s dissatisfaction. It will probably result not only in changing the board of directors but giving a message to Ekho Moskvy: you cannot act as if you were in an absolutely free society; you must hold your tongue and stop criticizing the regime.
“One thing is interesting: everyone in Moscow and in the Russian political environment takes this pressure as a symbol of toughening. We expected the attempt to muzzle one of the rare and unique radio stations after the presidential election in March. This fact can be taken as an inevitable tendency. After the election it will be difficult to hold demonstrations. There is no doubt that after Putin comes to power for the fourth time this tendency will be preserved.
“I think that Aleksei Venediktov got the message the Kremlin sent him through ‘Gazprom-media’ perfectly well. It is possible that ‘Gazprom-media’ did it without waiting for any directives from the Kremlin. It is usual for the bureaucracy that is too hot to trot. It is possible that there was not any Kremlin’s directive concerning Ekho Moskvy. Nevertheless, ‘Gazprom-media’ pursues a preemptive tactic. Aleksei Venediktov understands their message perfectly well. The fact that he assures that the policy of Ekho Moskvy will not change means the attempt of the editor-in-chief who skillfully managed Ekho Moskvy to maintain his personal dignity and certain independence of the radio station. We will see to what extent Ekho Moskvy will manage to keep its freedom and pluralism. This radio station will experiment and sound the distance to the red flags its reporters and guests will be able to go. We will see it during the month left before the presidential election. We will see who they will invite and to what extent they will criticize Putin. Ekho Moskvy will show to other independent and semi-independent media the limit of the freedom of speech possible during new Putin’s regime.”