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Press review: Yellow Vest uprisings engulf EU and envoy to UK slams London’s intransigence

Top stories in the Russian press on Tuesday, December 11
Demonstrators wearing yellow vests hold a banner during a march in Marseille AP Photo/Claude Paris
Demonstrators wearing yellow vests hold a banner during a march in Marseille
© AP Photo/Claude Paris

 

Media: France's Yellow Vest protests spill over to Europe

Attempts to blame the demonstrations engulfing Europe on Russia are ridiculous, say experts questioned by Izvestia. People have taken to the streets because of unresolved domestic issues. A wave of spontaneous protests, which started in Paris, has now swept into Belgium, Germany, Holland, Serbia, Montenegro and other countries on the continent.

"Rising fuel taxes became the straw that broke the camel’s back. People are frustrated not only with taxes but with the overall situation as well, for their purchasing power is declining and their economic situation is worsening," Sergei Fyodorov, a Leading Research Fellow at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Europe, told Izvestia. "The protests spilled over to neighboring countries for the same reasons," he added.

A surge in prices may spark anger in any country, Associate Professor at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics Oleg Cherednichenko told Nezavisimaya Gazeta. "In such situations, timely dialogue with the public is crucial. In Russia, a similar problem was resolved through a compromise that satisfied both society and companies," the expert said. In France, however, "we haven’t seen the authorities take timely steps." "The French crossed the line because their government had been ignoring the people," Cherednichenko emphasized.

In such a critical situation, the French authorities are desperately trying to shift responsibility to external forces. A flag of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, seen near the Arc of Triomphe in Paris, is used as evidence proving "Russia’s interference." Media outlets reported about hundreds of social media posts in support of protesters, coming from accounts "linked to Russia."

According to Fyodorov, such accusations against Moscow could be expected but they look ridiculous. "Why would Russia seek to raise tensions in France? Relations between Moscow and Paris are not bad. In my view, these speculations are fanned by Great Britain and supported by Ukraine. It is a policy aimed at demonizing Russia to weaken its positions on the international stage," the expert told Izvestia.

Over the weekend, the protest wave engulfed Belgium and the Netherlands. However, it depends on the leading EU country, Germany, whether the Yellow Vest protest will engulf all of Europe. Germany’s right-wing populist movement PEGIDA has already adopted the symbols of the French protest as its members wore yellow vests during a protest against migration in Berlin on December 1. The leaders of Germany’s The Left party expressed solidarity with French protesters at a congress held on Saturday.

 

Izvestia: Cyber attack allegations against Russia unprecedented, envoy to UK says

The British authorities have not yet allowed Russian consular access to Sergei and Yulia Skripal and have been refusing to carry out a joint investigation without giving a reason, Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Alexander Yakovenko said in an interview with Izvestia. He also touched upon the situation surrounding the INF accord and the growing trade between the two countries.

According to the ambassador, "London continues to adamantly refuse to cooperate with Russia in investigating the poisoning of two Russian nationals on British soil without an explanation." "The much-talked-about investigation, about which we know only from the media, is not transparent and all the circumstances of the case are being classified. In our view, it all proves that the Tory government has something to hide since it is afraid of open and honest cooperation," Yakovenko stressed.

The ambassador also pointed out that "the British authorities’ groundless cyber attack allegations against Russia have reached an unprecedented scale, as well as the spy-mania gripping the British establishment." "We have many times and at various levels suggested holding expert consultations to address cyber concerns if there are any… But Great Britain continues only to escalate rhetoric and fabricate facts," Yakovenko noted.

On the topic of Washington’s intention to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), he said that the United Kingdom was interested in maintaining the deal, which it "considers as one of the most important agreements on strategic stability." "British experts warn about the risk of a new arms race at a new technological level, with the deployment of US missiles to Europe, the rapid destruction of the entire arms control and non-proliferation architecture," the ambassador said. He stressed that London "could play a more constructive role in keeping the INF Treaty in place… however, we have so far only heard the British government repeat baseless US accusations against Russia in relation to the treaty."

In response to a question about bilateral cooperation, the Russian envoy noted, "many cooperation channels between Russia and Great Britain have unfortunately been suspended as they had become hostage to the political shortsightedness of the British authorities." Nevertheless, "despite the complicated political situation and the 2014-2016 drop in trade, there has been a remarkable recovery in trade and economic relations in 2017 and the first half of 2018," the ambassador stressed.

 

Izvestia: Incarcerated Russian citizen Butina will not plead guilty, father says

Russian graduate student Maria Butina does not intend to plead guilty in a US court, but she will probably concur that she should have registered with the US Department of Justice as a foreign agent, her father Valery Butin told Izvestia. He dismissed some western media reports that Maria plans to plead guilty as incorrect.

"Masha did nothing wrong and she will not plead guilty to fabricated accusations. The only thing she will probably agree with is that she should have registered as a foreign agent. However, even in this case, she did not break any law, she only sought to build bridges of friendship between Russia and the US," Butin said.

He added that Maria had remained in an isolation cell since November 20. The reason for her punishment was that she had given her lawyer’s telephone number to a fellow inmate.

"This is just nonsense, an attempt to exert pressure on Masha. Out of the five months in prison, she has so far spent nearly three months in an isolation cell. On top of that, she has been transferred to a bloc where inmates accused of violent crimes are kept," Valery Butin noted. "The last time I talked to her was on Friday. Despite the situation, I could hear confidence in her voice and the determination to fight for justice," he added.

Washington is doing everything possible to get just about anything on Russia’s alleged interference in the country’s domestic affairs, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma (Russia’s lower house of parliament) Foreign Affairs Committee Alexei Chepa told Izvestia. According to him, "the US has been and will continue using even undemocratic means to exert pressure on Russian nationals, including Maria Butina. Meanwhile, Russia has to employ all legitimate methods to protect its citizens," he stressed.

 

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Litany of human rights issues awaits Putin

President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to attend the December 11 meeting of the Russian Presidential Human Rights Council. In recent years, such assemblies have had an abridged agenda so it is not always possible to inform the head of state about the most important issues, Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes.

Human Rights Council member Ilya Shablinsky explained to the newspaper that "as far as the most pressing issues are concerned, the Council’s efficiency can be described as low." After being on the Council for six years, he has come to the conclusion that "the people need the Council, but officials do not." "Authorities in a number of regions and even some presidential administration members prefer to either ignore the Council’s recommendations or pretend to study them," he specified.

As an example, the council member referred to the Krasnodar Region standoff between farmers and big agricultural companies over the land issue. Shablinsky pointed out that the Human Rights Council had had its last circuit meeting in the region on March 26-28, but the authorities had been sabotaging the recommendations issued at the time.

Shablinsky told the paper that he called for legally expanding the Human Rights Council’s powers, particularly to make all the Russian state agencies pay more attention to its recommendations.

Human Rights Council Deputy Chairman Yevgeny Bobrov told Nezavisimaya Gazeta that the country’s authorities were reluctant to expand the Council’s powers though the issue had been discussed with the president several years ago.

"We would like officials and agencies to hear us, and we would also like to have the right to make visits to penal facilities because no one has access there apart from Human Rights Council head Mikhail Fedotov and members of public monitoring commissions," Bobrov noted. According to him, there are no plans to initiate legal amendments at the moment but cooperation with the presidential administration has begun, as the parties have discussed a wide range of issues, including those that farmers are facing.

"We have some systemic problems to discuss with the president, which include torture, the activities of public monitoring commissions and non-profit organizations, as well as reforms to the criminal justice system," Bobrov stressed, adding that farmers’ concerns might also be tackled. According to him, the Human Rights Council drafted a bill on land reform and the presidential legal department has said it was worth considering, recommending it be submitted to the government for further development.

 

Kommersant: Despite the recent OPEC+ output cut, oil prices backpedal

On December 10, Brent oil prices once again fell to $60 per barrel despite the OPEC+ decision to cut oil production. Pessimistic sentiment prevails on the markets because of growing political tensions between the United States and China. However, the decrease in oil production in OPEC and non-OPEC countries will inevitably restore prices, though it will happen in 2019, said experts interviewed by Kommersant.

The decision to cut oil production is a positive one but it is not enough to ensure a turnaround in prices, analysts point out. "Traders came to a consensus that the daily surplus of the global oil market is over one million barrel, this is why the market expected a 1.5-mln barrel cut. Unfulfilled expectations have caused a decline in oil prices," said KPMG Global Head of Oil and Gas Anton Usov.

Escalating political tensions between Washington and Beijing have turned up the heat on oil prices. Over the weekend, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said that Washington would take a firm position in talks with China despite a truce Donald Trump and Xi Jinping had made in early December. The US official noted that if no agreement was reached within 90 days, Washington would impose new tariffs on Chinese imports. The bureaucrat’s statement drove stock markets into a decline.

However, market players doubt the period of falling oil prices will be long and expect a new rebound in the coming months. "Decisions made by OPEC +, along with oil production cuts in Canada and expectations that in May 2019, the US will not extend the exemption for eight exporters of Iranian oil, should break the downward trend in crude oil futures prices and prevent an oil market surplus," said Head of the Department of Stock Market Experts at BCS Broker Vasily Karpunin. According to him, Brent oil prices will return to the $65-70 range in the coming months.

 

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