Article
MEPs and EP President Pöttering meet Kasparov
External relations - 24-05-2007 - 16:54
Garry Kasparov Hans Gert Pottering 23 May
Garry Kasparov - chess master turned Kremlin critic was at the Parliament this week to set out his views on Russia. Recently arrested for protesting, he told MEPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee and delegation to Russia that Moscow had "weakened Russian democratic institutions ". He was invited by Hans-Gert Pöttering, Parliament's President, as a sign of support for "those who are working to bring about democracy". See the bottom of the page for our focus on Kasparov's visit to the Parliament.
Born in Baku to an Armenian-Jewish family Kasparov made his name as one of the greatest Soviet chess champions - his games with Kremlin favourite Karpov received global attention. In 2005 he quit the game and turned to politics creating the United Civil Front which aims to preserve electoral democracy in Russia. His movement is now in coalition with the Other Russia movement of which he is the leader.
Mr Kasparov's criticisms of the Kremlin were direct and blunt. He believes the Kremlin had "weakened Russian democratic institutions" and marked a return to the ruling elites and illiberal habits of the past
Mr Pöttering explained that "the invitation of Garry Kasparov to the European Parliament is an expression of our obligation as freely elected MEPs to support all those who are working to bring about democracy and rule-of-law in Russia and in the world. They deserve our full support and solidarity".
Kasparov predicts crises before year-end in Russia
He sees this year as a crucial one on the country's development and predicts a crisis before the end of the year. He did however say that he thought internal quarrelling amongst the elite represented an opportunity for the opposition.
The former chess master told Members that his strategy is to unite the various factions of Russian opposition ahead of Parliamentary elections in December 2007 and Presidential elections in March 2008. Kasparov said he was leading the fight not to win the elections, but to ensure they took place at all
Pledging to hold non-violent protest he sees street protests and the use of the internet as the key to mobilising support. The main argument his group intend to use is "defence of Constitutional rights".
On the power of protest he noted that "having 5 000 people in Moscow streets of is more important than 100,000 people in Paris streets. Joining the rallies is quite risky; the police are very cruel with those protesting. "For us every demonstration is an important step towards the democracy."
Checkmate for EU-Russia relations?
Perhaps inevitably Mr Kasparov was asked what the EU can do to help - is criticism of the Kremlin counterproductive or should the EU use its energy contracts as a bargaining chip? He said that the EU should not interfere in internal Russian affairs but should not support him directly either. He said that treating him as an equal player sends the wrong signal to the Russian people.
However, noting some room for optimism he said that last month was very important from the perspective of Russian opposition, because "we saw a very different attitude adopted both by EP and European leaders vis-a-vis Russia."
REF.: 20070521STO06821