Some reactions to Russia ending the FLEX high school exchange program:
Stanford University Professor Michael McFaul, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia
Ukrainian Social Researcher Irene Fedets
Fulbright Scholar Sergeu Kostyaev
Lena Osipova, OPhD Student at School of International Service, American University
Mikhail Zygar, editor in Chief of Dozhd TV, wins International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists
So today's was a soft launch and we still have some bugs to work out. We'll be back tomorrow with more.
Good morning. I'm back!
The Moscow Times has an interesting piece up by Alexey Eremenko on civic activism and self-governance in Russia.
"A common criticism of the current Russian government is its tendency to act as an overseer of the nation rather than its representative. Accordingly, the key question concerning Russia's political future is when — or whether — the people will ever take control.
More than any reform of the parliament or government, this issue hinges on the development of grassroots activism and self-governance, practices that are taking shape slowly and painfully in a country with deep-rooted authoritarian traditions, experts say."
Read it all here.
Also in The Moscow Times, Kevin Rothrock, an insightful and prolific commenter on all things Ru.Net (and a regular guest on the Power Vertical Podcast), takes a look at the Kremlin's efforts to control the Internet.
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
TASS IS BACK: RUSSIAN NEWS AGENCY REVIVES SOVIET-ERA NAME
Russians who feel their country is returning to Soviet-era ways have a new piece of evidence: TASS is back.
The 110-year-old news agency, known in recent years as ITAR-TASS, says it will use the name TASS starting on October 1.
In a news item, the agency said the brand is "a symbol of professionalism, enthusiasm, and commitment to maintain and develop its
best traditions."
It said TASS is not an abbreviation. But in the Soviet era, when it was the main state news agency, the letters stood for Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union.
ITAR was added after the collapse of communism.
The agency said the name TASS and its new brand will be used on the Internet and in print as well as in advertisements and on souvenirs.
It said the transition would be complete by the end of 2015.
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
EU KEEPS RUSSIAN SANCTIONS IN PLACE
The European Union has decided to keep in place a raft of sanctions against Russia over its actions in eastern Ukraine and its support of rebels there.
EU ambassadors met in Brussels on September 30 to assess the situation in eastern Ukraine.
The bloc imposed its latest round of sanctions earlier this month.
At the time, EU President Herman Van Rompuy said they could be dropped depending on the results of a review, the deadline of which was September 30.
But the EU found that Ukraine's peace plan, agreed to between Kyiv and pro-Russian rebels, had not yet been fully implemented.
EU spokeswoman Maja Kojicancic said there had been "encouraging developments" in "some aspects" of the peace deal, but added that "relevant parts of the protocol will need to be properly implemented."
(Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters)
Ulrich Speck at Carnegie Europe has an article up calling the EU's decision to postpone the trade deal with Ukraine a "bad move."
"By postponing the DCFTA, the economic core of the Association Agreement meant to bring Ukraine closer to the union, some EU leaders apparently wanted to accommodate the Kremlin. The concession on the DCFTA was meant to give Moscow an additional incentive to stick to a ceasefire that Russia, Russian-supported rebels, and the Ukrainian government had agreed to on September 5. The so-called Minsk protocol also set in motion a broader process to end the fighting between pro-Moscow and pro-EU forces in Ukraine.
But delaying the DCFTA is a mistake. It gives Russia incentives to raise the pressure because it opens a large window of opportunity to prevent the DCFTA from entering into force. The pressure could be military, economic, or diplomatic. And the delay puts at risk what should be the EU’s longer-term response to the Ukraine crisis: a redoubled effort to help the country build itself up as a successful liberal democracy and market economy."
Read it all here.
The Russian government is backing legislation that would compensate Russian businessmen with taxpayer's money should their assets be seized abroad.
"Vedomosti" has the details. See also this report in "Slon."
From RFE/RL's News Desk
RUSSIAN ARMY DRAFTING MEN FROM CHECHNYA FOR FIRST TIME IN 20 YEARS
Young men from Chechnya are being drafted into Russia's armed forces for the first time in 20 years.
Some 500 men aged 18-27 will be drafted this autumn.
Officials at Russia's Southern Military District said on October 1 that drafting commissions had started working in Chechnya's 17 districts and that the first group of conscripts will be sent to military units in 10 days.
Mandatory military service in Russia is 12 months.
Chechen youth stopped being drafted to the Russian Army in late 1994, when the Kremlin sent the military into Chechnya to try to crush its separatist leadership.
Government forces drove separatists from power in a second war and Moscow announced in 2009 that its "counter-terrorist" operation in Chechnya was over.
Chechen separatist fighters gradually turned into Islamic insurgency and spread to other parts of Russia's volatile North Caucasus region.
(Based on reporting by Interfax and ITAR-TASS)