Breakfast with Mikhail Kasyanov

Time: Tuesday, October 14, 2008

By Hugh Jorgensen

In his address to the morning session of the Forum 2000 conference, former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov spoke about the rapid decline of political freedom in his homeland and called upon world leaders to be more open in their criticism of Russian politics. Touching on the conflict in Georgia, Kasyanov asserted that Russia's increasing belligerence is rooted in its KGB style of governance, noting its damaging use of propaganda through state controlled media. Having attemped to run for President in the most recent election, Kasyanov declared Russia to have "neither a legitimate parliament, nor a legitimate president (...) Medvedev has simply chosen to uphold Putin's politics". Kasyanov also expressed his disappointment with the response of European leaders to Russia's diminished democracy, claiming their reaction was "quiet and in fact, [they] silently applauded the election result."

In his closing remarks, Kasyanov noted that in Russia there is a great gap in values: “While we have democratic institutions, none of them are implemented in practice, such as free elections, free media or the right to establish political parties that can participate in civil society.” He warned of the dangers of European Realpolitik when dealing with Russia "that simply confirms the worldview of Russia's leaders that everything is tradeable and purchasable.” Kasyanov concluded: “Who needs a new cold war now? We should not give them the chance."