25/02/2005 11:43:21 am
What Does He Mean? At the news conference following the meeting Between Vladimir Putin and George W Bush, Putin said the following about Russia and democracy:

"Russia has made its choice in favor of democracy. This is our final choice, and we have no way back. There can be no return to what we used to have before. [Russia will] remain committed to the fundamental principles of democracy that have been established in the world. [However, democratic advancement] should be adequate to the current status of the development of Russia. The implementation of the principles and norms of democracy should not be accompanied by the collapse of the state and impoverishment of the people."

In recent years, the centralisation of power to the Kremlin has been strong. Yukos, shutting down free media, support for the wrong side in Ukraine - the examples are many. Now, after the "candid and open exchange of views", as Bush called it, Putin had the opportunity to clarify his position. He didn?t.

Russia has chosen democracy, he says, and not the previous communist dictatorship. Good. But there are of course other kinds of authoritarian systems than the previous one, and Russia today is increasingly authoritarian. Does Putin believe that a free society would lead to a collapse of the state and impoverishment of the people? In that case, he should read some history - which teaches us the opposite.

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