Russia’s Disintegration Could Well Begin in Far East, Romanov Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 19 – The disintegration of the Russian Federation could well begin in the Far East where ever more people are talking about how different that region is from European Russia, looking abroad for allies and even positing the existence of something they call “a coastal civilization,” Igor Romanov says.

            The director of the Bereg Rus Center on Church-State Relations whose portal covers and promotes an Orthodox Christian version of Russian nationalism says that supporters of “coastal civilization” have as their main but concealed goal the presentation of such a civilization as “non-ethnic Russian, non-civic Russian and non-Orthodox” as well (beregrus.ru/?p=15039).

            The object of Romanov’s anger in this case is a series of articles on a Vladivostok portal that describe unique features of the life and history of the region and argue that these are sufficient to justify calling the people there are constituting a unique “coastal civilization” (primamedia.ru/news/1763356/).

            On the one hand, such articles could easily appear to be nothing more than an example of the focus on local news that is typical of many regions of the Russian Federation. But on the other, describing the situation in the Far East as a separate “civilization” goes far beyond what is normally the case of such coverage elsewhere.

            It is clear, Romanov says, that “’the Non-Russia’ project, which has been taking shape for many years in the spiritual and cultural space of the Far East is a long-term undertaking and has support not only from a broad but also from some ‘foreign agents’ in the federal government of the Russian Federation” who fail to see that this could convert the region into a new Ukraine.

            According to the commentator, that includes some who are supporters of the BRICS alliance who are prepared to sacrifice Russia and its historical culture in the pursuit of a larger union. Russia needs good relations with China but not at the price of the loss of its unified culture and territory.

            If this danger is not recognized, Romanov says, and those pushing for a separate “coastal civilization” are not blocked, then “the threat of the collapse of our country may begin to take place on the territories of the Far East,” something that will hurt Russians living in that enormous region first of all.

            “Those who today are actively promoting the strengthening of ‘Non-Russia’ there, all these small corrupt journalists and short-sighted businessmen and politicians with a limited point of view should remember that if a negative scenario for the Far East and Russia comes to pass, they are unlikely to be needed by the new owners and will be instantly erased.”

            “Just as dust is wiped off from an old cabinet,” Romanov concludes.