kolmapäev, detsember 20, 2006

The Logic of Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's panties are still in a bunch over the idea that Estonia would pass a law outlawing violence-inspiring symbols of former occupation regimes.
Russia will oppose the heroisation of fascism in its contacts with Estonia’s leadership and in the international arena, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

“We considerate it sacrilegious and dangerous to put an equality sign between liberators and occupants. At present, this is happening in Estonia,” he told a news conference on Wednesday.

He added that Russia “will continue work in contacts with Estonian leadership and in the international arena to avert a revival of fascism and its heroisation”.


Let me walk you through this. Estonia has a provisional law - yet to be passed - that would ban the use of both the swastika and the hammer & sickle in public settings that could lead to disruptive activity. But the Russian foreign ministry sees this ban as a "heroisation" of fascism. Do you understand that? Because I just can't grasp how outlawing the symbol of fascism makes one part of a fascist revival.

Anyway, if Lavrov wants to see fascism he need not look in Estonia's backyard. Kremlin Inc. resembles more and more each day the regime that has come to define fascism for generations, that of Benito Mussolini's Italy. Is the Russian Federation of today so different from fascist Italy in the 1920s -- where the middle class endorsed corporatism in the face of chaotic laissez faire capitalism and reactionary bolshevism?

As long as the upper classes were pleased with Mussolini, he was given a free hand to convert post-war Italy into a police state. But when Italy lost the war, we all know what happened to Benito Mussolini. Word to the wise.

14 kommentaari:

Anonüümne ütles ...

You know, in their eyes every non-Russian is a fascist.
A few days ago I saw on BBC how Putin-jugend called the British ambassador a fascist.

What does that make them?

Mina ütles ...

There is no logic in the statements of Lavrov. Russia is using the method called: if you repeat something over and over again it becomes “the truth”. Although we all can see the hole in his arguments, the target audience (hard core Russian chauvinists or w-europe Russophiles) is religiously blind.

Jens-Olaf ütles ...

It will not work for him, not for Lavrov. Maybe he find his audience in Germany. Cause all guilt is on the Nazis here. But for Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and up to Korea it means nothing. Russia has to cope with the soviet past. Next piece on our blog will be about the deportation of the Ingrians. The Ingrians?

Anonüümne ütles ...


Mina: Russia is using the method called: if you repeat something over and over again it becomes “the truth”.

That kind of strategy can fail, particularly if there is no logic in it, it just sounds kooky after a while. Then they lose all credibility.

Anonüümne ütles ...

Optionally re-iterate the propagandistic rhetorics in your own use of terms.

A good example would be to use red facists or stalino-facists or simply facists about everything concerning the soviets. Actually there is very little difference between the practice and theory of facism/nacioal socialzm vs stalinism/communism.

Anonüümne ütles ...

the enemy in my bed...or estonian citizenship for sale even for those who support anti-estonian propaganda
http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/17047/

La Russophobe ütles ...

I'd say Russia of today does differ from Mussolini's Italy in one important respect: When Mussolini came to power he wasn't a proud officer of the secret police which had destroyed the entire nation just a few years earlier, so Italians had some justification in being a bit surprised by him. Russians have no such excuse.

If I were in the Baltics, I'd be worried that these outrageous statements by Lavrov (which could easily have been made by Vladimir Zhirinovsky ten years ago, when they would have been laughed off, but now they are policy) constitute an opening gambit by which the Kremlin could seek to justify attempting to reassert control over the Baltics, control which it very much regrets losing. For instance, there's a post (with video) on my blog showing pop star Oleg Gazmanov singing about how the Baltics are really part of "his country."

http://russophobe.blogspot.com/2006/12/sunday-photos-russian-rock-roll-special.html

Are you guys worried at all about Russian aggression/imperialism?

Anonüümne ütles ...

Sheesh...I watched that Oleg Gazmanov video, it was heinous, all those masses of brainwashed people in some sort of sick trance, reminds me of Hitler's Germany.

I for one am worried about Russia's imperialism. I am not particularly keen on dying in a war just because the Russian hordes decided to conduct the 691559191966616134-th invasion to Estonia.

Giustino ütles ...

I for one am worried about Russia's imperialism. I am not particularly keen on dying in a war just because the Russian hordes decided to conduct the 691559191966616134-th invasion to Estonia.

They are, for lack of better words, idiots. Control of Estonia is not in Russia's vital interests. Maybe it was when they had to do battle with Imperial Sweden or Imperial Germany, but those days are long gone.

I don't think Russians even know what Estonia is like. Do they really understand that it's just this soft lump of bogs and islands in the north Baltic Sea? Why would they boast of having an interest in such a place?

Anonüümne ütles ...

Maybe we should indeed adopt a more negative image to the country to make it less attractive. Instead of spreading the word of our economical success, beautiful nature and so forth, we can be the country known for people who eat blood out of pig intestines, well we do anyway.

Giustino ütles ...

When Mussolini came to power he wasn't a proud officer of the secret police which had destroyed the entire nation just a few years earlier, so Italians had some justification in being a bit surprised by him. Russians have no such excuse.

I'm told that the upper middle class in Russia doesn't care so much for democracy - so long as Putin keeps things "stable." They've made that trade off.

Somebody has to be supporting this guy. Who is it?

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