Paul Goble
Staunton, June 20 – Stanislav Suslov, a member of the Movement for the Independence of Siberia who now lives in Serbia, says that independence for Siberians is inevitable but what remains unclear is whether they will eventually form one county or a number of them after what he hopes will be a peaceful “divorce” from Moscow.
In Lithuania for a meeting of regional and ethnic activists from the Russian Federation, he argues that this process will complete the demise of the Muscovite empire that began in 1991 (lrt.lt/ru/novosti/17/2299848/rossiiskii-aktivist-boretsia-za-soedinennye-shtaty-sibiri-raspad-rossii-neizbezhen).
What remains uncertain, Suslov continues, is whether the peoples of the enormous region east of the Urals will form one country or many. Clearly, many of the non-Russians will want independence, but others may be quite willing to work with ethnic Russians there and form a federal or confederal state.
He says that if the peoples of the region divide up Siberia into a large number of relatively small countries, there is a great danger that they will fall under Chinese domination, thus echoing at the regional level an argument often heard in Moscow against any independence for the lands east of the Urals.
How compelling his argument for a Siberian federation will be remains to be seen, but it is an intriguing indication that activists there are thinking about what might happen after independence is achieved and beginning to think about how they will defend their interests in that event.
Suslov also makes another point that may matter enormously in the future. He says that all too many people, including many in Moscow, view Siberia only as a source of raw materials for the development of the rest of Russia or for sale abroad. Instead, he says, Siberia like any other modern country must focus on non-extractive industries if it is to have a future.
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