Another ‘Free Russia’ forum conference was held in Vilnius today. Under this name, people who identify themselves as the so-called non-system opposition tried to unite once again.
This time they decided to make a list of those who, in their opinion, are responsible for everything that is bad in Russia. Of course, journalists like us got an honorable mention on the list.
However, when the participants determined who was unreliable it turned out that there were too few reliable people in the room.
Elena Erofeeva — on why the opposition has become seriously depleted. And what it has resulted in. Elena Erofeeva reporting.
A construction crane blocked the central entrance of the hotel where the Russian opposition meets. The venue was kept secret until the last minute. While outside the frontage is being repaired, inside the members of the secret society talk about the restructuring of the political regime in Russia.
The first topic of discussion at the forum is how to restrict the freedom of broadcasting of those media that the forum participants consider incorrect. These include our channel, as well as Russia Today with Sputnik. They criticize not only journalists, but also those who dared to come to them for an interview.
Boris Reitschuster, journalist (Germany): "Our foreign minister, who should fight foreign propaganda, gives an interview to Russia Today/ Then, an amazingly intelligent person says: "I need this to somehow reach the Russians." Russia Today. To reach out to the Russians. Great. Well informed".
Moderator of the discussion, lawyer Mark Feygin has some insight on methods to use against journalists he doesn’t like.
Mark Feygin, lawyer: "So let's take Solovyov. He is probably the nastiest of the bunch. Is it necessary to deport him or impose visa restrictions?"
Unwanted media representatives simply were not allowed to enter the forum. They were accused of being unreliable. And the reliable ones, as it turned out, just did not come.
Aider Muzhdabaev, journalist: "The fact is that the guys from the Russian opposition media did not come. Probably if they angered their readers and were asked about why they didn’t provide cover this event, they probably would have come. But perhaps it’s just not that interesting".
Aider Muzhdabaev decided to bring attention to the forum by his own efforts. After the end of the discussion, he tried to start a row with correspondents showing at the same time his well-educated and high level of sophistication.
Aider Muzhdabaev: "You are shit. You're Russian, corrupt, propagandistic shit".
The atmosphere of the forum began to heat up. One of the organizers, Garry Kasparov, in his speech sharply criticized his Western partners who did not listen to his calls for radical action.
Garry Kasparov: "I understand, of course, that the Western elite is corrupt, cowardly, slow. Many would like this situation to be prolonged, just as it is convenient for many who operate in Russia under liberal human rights banners, they're also satisfied with the current status quo".
But there is also no agreement among these patriots on tour. When they started talking about the state of the Russian opposition, they suddenly found out: it can't be a real political force.
Ilya Ponomarev: "I think that the most important thing that we really need to achieve in the Russian opposition is a much more strategic issue. All the time it is the same story: we have strong people, and there's no common platform that would unite all of them and make them come to an agreement".
Will the participants finally come to an agreement, will be the topic of the next, fifth annual, forum in the Lithuanian capital next year. Of course, if it is even held.
Elena Erofeeva, Mikhail Devyatkin, Viktor Barmin for Vesti, Vilnius.
