Media: Google must 'respect our election laws,' Russia says
Moscow has forewarned foreign Internet resources that they must abide by Russian election laws. The Central Election Commission, Russia’s media watchdog and the Prosecutor General’s Office have sent letters to Google's management, warning against placing content calling for illegal activities on the so-called "day of silence" (September 8) and Unified Election Day (September 9), Rossiyskaya Gazeta writes.
"There is not much time left before the elections are held. Our goal is not to punish anyone but to prevent violations of our legislation, particularly those laws aimed at protecting our electoral sovereignty," said Andrei Klimov, the Head of the Federation Council Temporary Commission for Protection of State Sovereignty and Prevention of Interference in Russia's Internal Affairs. "We are a civilized state and we intend to act very openly, we expect that our legislation will be respected, as well as our traditions, rights and freedoms," he added.
Meanwhile, experts are confident that despite the serious warnings, Google is unlikely to face a ban, Vedomosti points out. Russia’s media watchdog can block its services at any point by a request from the Prosecutor General’s Office, without any prior notice, lawyer Sarkis Darbinyan noted. However, banning Google will be a political decision rather than a legal one, but it seems that a political decision has not been made yet. "I am totally sure that no one intends to ban Google," said Pavel Chikov, the head of the Agora International Human Rights Group. According to him, Russian authorities seek to solve a short-term objective instead of a strategic one. They want to prevent social 'activists' from joining the usual protest activities that could significantly increase the total number of demonstrators. Besides, it is a good excuse for accusing the United States of election meddling in advance, the expert said.
A law enforcement source told Vedomosti he believed that Google was unlikely to be blocked based on the state agencies’ claims as there are not enough reasons for a ban.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Assad’s military strike to hit Erdogan’s purse
The Syrian army’s plan to launch an offensive against the Idlib province, which Russia called the last major terrorist stronghold in Syria, will be a pain in the neck for Turkish businessmen who claim that Syrians are unable to return about $7 mln because of the turmoil rocking the region. However, Turkish experts say that a new wave of Syrian refugees will prove to be a far greater shock to the country’s economy than the loss of the Idlib market, Nezavisimaya Gazeta wrote.
Turkish experts point out that the country's exports to Syria started to decline back in 2010. "Over the past few years, the numbers have been growing. In 2017, Turkey’s exports reached about $1.4 bln. In this regard, if a military operation is carried out in Idlib, only a small group of Turkish businessmen dealing with Syrian opposition groups will face millions of dollars in losses, which will be just a drop in the bucket," Kerim Has, an expert with the International Strategic Research Organization think tank in Ankara, told Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
He rejected the view that by supporting the Idlib offensive, Russia may deal a blow to the Turkish economy. However, the humanitarian situation may prove to be harmful to the country. "It won't turn out to be a shock only if Turkey does not have to face a new wave of refugees and the terrorist threat does not spread to Turkey," Has noted.
The analyst believes that Ankara has become hostage to the situation as a result of its own ambitious foreign policy. "The uncontrolled refugee influx has dealt a blow to the state financial policy," Has said, adding that "moreover, the fight against mounting terrorist threats requires more state funds." "If the tide turns in the Syrian crisis, economic cooperation between Ankara and Damascus will surely start growing," the expert concluded.
Izvestia: Yaroshenko case to be reviewed in April 2019
The case of Konstantin Yaroshenko, the Russian pilot who is serving out his sentence in an American prison, may be reviewed in April 2019, Adviser to the Russian Human Rights Ombudsperson Vyacheslav Tolmachev told Izvestia.
"In accordance with the Council of Europe’s Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, to which the United States is also a party, Yaroshenko may be transferred to Russia to serve out his sentence on Russian soil," Tolmachev explained. "US domestic rules say that requests concerning the transfer of convicts for serving out sentences in their countries of origin are applied every two years. It means that the Yaroshenko case will be reviewed next April," Tolmachev said. "We will continue to exert humanitarian pressure, hoping that we will eventually get through to US authorities," he added.
Yaroshenko’s wife Viktoria, in turn, has told Izvestia that the 1983 Council of Europe’s Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons actually remains the last hope for bringing Konstantin back home.
"Konstantin will surely demand that his case be reviewed, there is no doubt about it," she said. "In our situation, we need to take advantage of every opportunity and hope that legal initiatives will work sooner or later. Particularly taking into consideration the fact that Konstantin was framed and no evidence was presented to prove his guilt," the pilot’s wife stressed.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Devaluating ruble frustrates Russians
The ruble has depreciated against the dollar by 20% since the beginning of the year. Russians are clearly irritated with the new devaluation bout, a recent opinion poll conducted by the Romir Research Holding shows. Three-fourths of those surveyed said that the devaluation of the ruble is "a problem for the state," while two-thirds stressed that it created difficulties for them personally. As many as 70% accused the authorities of not doing enough to stabilize the exchange rate. Meanwhile, many Russians would surely be surprised if they found out that currency debasement is part of the government’s deliberate policy, Nezavisimaya Gazeta notes.
The current devaluation of the ruble did not dramatically affect Russian industry, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said. At the same time, many Russians must remember Central Bank Chief Elvira Nabiullina’s call to stop keeping track of the ruble-dollar exchange rate. However, unlike Central Bank officials, Russians understand that the depreciating ruble will lead to rising inflation, costlier lending rates and higher prices on pharmaceuticals, along with shelved travel plans, the impossibility of purchasing foreign-made devices and even growing air travel risks.
"We often hear people say that if you make money in rubles and spend rubles then you don’t have to be concerned about exchange rate fluctuations, but the poll shows that this view is wrong, " Romir President Andrey Milekhin said, commenting on the survey’s results.
Associate professor at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration Sergei Khestanov, in turn, pointed to a paradox, as people believe for some reason that the government must be concerned about the ruble’s instability, while currency debasement is in the government’s interest. "The ruble will always depreciate. In 2000-2008, there were times when the ruble strengthened but the government has taken those mistakes into account and will now counter the ruble’s too strong attempts to strengthen by purchasing foreign currency for the reserves," Khestanov said. "However, it is impossible to explain this policy to the wider public," the expert admitted.
Kommersant: Making profits together to help Russia, Japan strike peace treaty
In the past years, cooperation between Japan and Russia has significantly progressed in the fields of medicine, urban development, waste management and the development of Russia’s Far East. However, the prospects for reaching a peace treaty remain vague though all of Japan’s political forces agree that a treaty must be made within the current generation of politicians, Special Advisor to the Japanese Prime Minister Eiichi Hasegawa said in an interview with Kommersant.
He pointed out that Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceuticals planned to start producing a medicine to treat multiple myeloma in Russia. In addition, cooperation was underway with the Dmitry Rogachev National Medical Research Center of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Immunology and the practical use of a tuberculosis medicine was being discussed with Russian partners. On top of that, a decision was made to establish a Japanese preventive medicine and diagnosis center in Khabarovsk.
As for the development of the Far East, Japan would like to increase the number of projects in order to unlock the region’s great potential, Hasegawa said, at the same time highlighting the need to step up exchanges between Japan and Russia’s western regions. "We believe that if our countries’ businessmen… see real results, it will eventually lead to a peace treaty between Japan and Russia," the Japanese prime minister’s adviser noted.
When speaking about the peace treaty issue, he said it was important that "there is not only dialogue between the two countries’ leaders but our countries’ people also understand the importance of Japanese-Russian relations." "The Liberal Democratic Party, which has a parliamentary majority and supports Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, also wants a peace treaty. I think that apart from the ruling party’s supporters, those supporting the opposition would also like the relationship between Japan and Russia to reach a new level and evolve after a peace treaty is signed," Hasegawa concluded.
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