MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday denounced opponents who receive financial assistance from abroad and vowed that Russia would not allow democracy to be imposed from the outside.
In his first annual state-of-the-nation address since he returned to the Kremlin for a third term, Putin struck a patriotic chord, telling Russians to have more babies and behave with greater morality.
His iciest warning came for opposition politicians deemed to be close to the West, saying it should be illegal for anyone who receives money from abroad to be a politician in Russia.
“Direct or indirect outside interference in our internal political processes is unacceptable,” Putin said in his speech in the Kremlin. “People who receive money from abroad for their political activities — most likely serving foreign national interests — cannot be politicians in the Russian Federation.”
Putin also said parliament should introduce legislation to “limit the rights” of officials and politicians to have foreign bank accounts and shares.
Putin’s annual speech to the Federal Assembly of both houses of parliament came one year after disputed parliamentary elections sparked the first mass street protests against his domination of Russia.
In May, the Russian strongman returned to the Kremlin for a third term as president following his four-year stint as prime minister, with activists complaining he had swiftly hit back with a crackdown on civil society.
This included a law rushed through parliament forcing non-government organisations which receive money from abroad to register as foreign agents, a move activists said stigmatised their work.
Putin did not make specific reference to the protests but acknowledged the need for change in Russia while warning that dialogue was only possible with those acting within the law.
“A civilised dialogue is only possible with those political forces who put forward, justify and formulate their demands in a civilised manner and defend them within the bounds of the law,” Putin added.
“Changing, modernising a political system is a natural and even necessary process,” he said in the one-and-a-half hour speech.
He said that Russia needed more morality and spirituality in society but also said it was important that the authorities did not behave like an “isolated caste”.
“Being a patriot does not just mean showing respect and love towards your history but above all serving society and the country,” Putin said.
Analyst and former Kremlin adviser Gleb Pavlovsky said patriotism was once again the major theme of the speech and this explained the new attack on foreign-funded opposition.
“As long as Putin talks about patriotism he is obliged to show that somewhere the anti-patriots are hiding. He seeks them among mythical political structures which are supposedly financed abroad,” he said. “It is a phantom topic.” The Russian opposition is planning a new anti-Putin mass rally on Saturday, which will be a crucial test of whether there is still life in the protest movement one year on. AFP
