Paul Goble
Staunton, Mar. 23 – The Putin regime is increasingly limiting the ability of Russians to travel abroad, thus striking at one of the most highly valued gains of the fall of the Soviet system and eliminated one of the means the Kremlin has employed to keep tensions within the country from getting out of control, Aleksandr Skobov says (ehorussia.com/new/node/25542).
In addition to legal restrictions on groups like the siloviki and political ones on deputies, the Moscow commentator says, there are ever more cases “when people are rejected when they apply for a foreign passport or simply turn up at the border … where they are blocked simply because the FSB considers the departure of this or that citizen a threat to ‘national security.’”
“This doesn’t mean that the Soviet system will be restored,” Skobov continues. Rather it represents the assumption by the powers that be of the ability to block people at will and without explanation and thus is a new way of intimidating those who might be inclined to oppose its increasingly totalitarian approach.
Up to now, the Kremlin has been more or less pleased to see those who oppose it leave the country; but now, Putin has changed his approach from “the authoritarian depoliticization” that represents to “totalitarian political mobilization,” putting an end to the feelings many moderates had that they always have the option to leave if things get too bad.
This new restriction is giving rise to feelings of hopelessness and defenselessness and should awaken ever more Russians to what they face a restored totalitarianism of a fascist kind, Skobov concludes.
No comments:
Post a Comment