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New items of the server - October 2011

October 31, 2011

Charges brought against Eugeny Vitishko, YABLOKO candidate to the State Duma

Press Release, October 31, 2011

Eugeny Vitishko, candidate to the State Duma from the YABLOKO party and leader of the Tuapse branch of YABLOKO, detained in Tuapse during environmental action on November 30 faces charges of violation of the border regime and violation of the navigation rules. YABLOKO considers the detention and the charges unlawful, as the detention of candidate MP was held without the mandatory approval by the Prosecutor. YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin is going to appeal against such actions in court...

Eugeny Vitishko, candidate to the State Duma from the YABLOKO party, arrested in Tuapse

Press Release, October 30, 2011

Eugeny Vitishko, candidate to the State Duma from the YABLOKO party and leader of the Tuapse branch of YABLOKO, and Eugenia Chirikova, leader of the Movement in Defence of Khimki Forest, were detained in Tuapse during environmental action on November 30. Chirikova has been released by now. YABLOKO considers the detention unlawful and demands immediate release of Eugeny Vitishko...

October 29, 2011

YABLOKO participated in the action Returning of the Names

Press Release, October 29, 2011

YABLOKO leaders and activists participated in the memorial action organised by the Memorial human rights society and commemorating the victims of political reprisals during Stalin’s period. The action took place by the FSB (former KGB) building at Lubyanka square...

YABLOKO to be listed as number five in the voting bulletin

Press Release, October 28, 2011

The Central Electoral Commission held a draw for the allocation of seats on the ballot for the parliamentary elections on October 28.

Representatives of the registered parties were pulling lotto balls with their numbers in the voting ballot. YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin pulled a ball with number five. Thus, YABLOKO will be listed as number five in the voting ballot...

October 27, 2011

The Central Electoral Commission has registered YABLOKO’s list of candidates for the parliamentary elections

Press Release, October 27, 2011

The Central Electoral Commission has registered YABLOKO's list of candidates for the parliamentary elections. The party has been formally acknowledged a participant in the forthcoming election campaign.

YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin, Alexei Yablokov, number three in the party election list and head of YABLOKO’s Green Russia faction, Svetlana Kuznetsova, head of Soldiers' Mothers faction, Valery Borschyov Co-Chair of the Human Rights faction, Boris Misnik, member of Political Committee and Valery Goryachev, Executive Secretary of YABLOKO Bureau. Head of the Central Electoral Commission Vladimir Churov handed them parliamentary candidates cards.

Speaking before the Central Electoral Commission Sergei Mitrokhin expressed his "hope that these elections will be free and fair". He recollected the situation when YABLOKO did not get a single vote in favour of the party at the polling station where Mitrokhin and his family voted for YABLOKO during Moscow parliamentary elections in 2009. "I hope there will be no way for such accidents at over 100,000 Russia’s polling stations any more," Mitrokhin said.

YABLOKO’s list contains 353 candidates in 78 regional groups. The list is topped by Grigory Yavlinsky, YABLOKO's founder, Sergei Mitrokhin, the current leader and Alexei Yablokov, head of YABLOKO's Green Russia faction...

October 26, 2011

Picket "Stop feeding state owned corporations!" took place by the Federation Council

Press Release, October 26, 2011

A series of one person pickets under the slogan 'Stop feeding state owned corporations!" took place by the Federation Council which had to adopt changes into the state budget. Five YABLOKO activists held placards "Stop stealing money from the budget!", "Where is an account on earlier spendings?" and "Spend money on budget sector workers rather than on building another Fukushima in Turkey!" ...

The activists demand that the remaining balance of the federal budget should be allotted to the salaries of budget workers (including teachers and doctors) rather than state-owned corporations. The Federation Council plans to approve redistribution of the balance; whereas state owned corporations should receive huge amounts of funds. Thus, Rosatom (the nuclear ministry) will receive RUR 23.5 bln, Rosnano (the agency on nano technologies) RUR 22.2 bln and the Russian Railroads – RUR 44.5 bln...

Galina Mikhalyova gets Doctor of Political Science degree!

Press Release, October 24, 2011

Congratulations to our dear colleague Galina Mikhalyova with a brilliant defence of her doctorship thesis!

You are so full of energy, mobile and manage to accomplish so many things that all is left for us is to admire!

With best wishes for your further success,

Your colleagues in YABLOKO

October 24, 2011

Sergei Kovalyov's lecture "Morals and Politics" to take place in YABLOKO’s office

Press Release, October 24, 2011

The first lecture "Morals and Politics" out of Sergei Kovalyov's bloc of lectures will take place in YABLOKO's office tomorrow, on October 25.

It is also planned that the lectures will be further published as a separate book.

The bloc of lectures will be launched by Grigory Yavlinsky, YABLOKO founder.

Vladislav Inozemtsev, Director of the Centre of Post-Industrial Studies, Valentin Gefter, Director of the Human Rights Institute, Lidia Grafova, Chair of the Migrants’ Organisations and other will also participate in further discussion.

The lecture will begin at 6 p.m...

The Council for Consolidation for Women’s Movement will not join Putin's People's Front

Press Release, October 22, 2011

Such a decision was adopted at the Council meeting which took place in Moscow on October 20.
In addition to the issue of determination of their political spectrum the participants of the Council also discussed preparation to the Moscow International Women’s Festival “The Femme Fest”, as well as their interaction with partner organisations.

The Council adopted two political decisions: on the attitude to the People’s Front and on the position as regards the parliamentary and the presidential election campaign...

October 21, 2011

Federal Security Service, hands off the students!

Grigory Yavlinsky's blog. Video. October 21, 2011

Yesterday’s developments at the Journalism Faculty of the Moscow State Lomonosov University mean idiotism which should not be repeated.

The fact that the security services work at the proposed meeting site of [of the President with the students] does not cause problems. The question is, what they do: whether they ensure safety or a nice television picture. Protesting students presented no danger to the head of state, and, judging by the information in the media, what was written on their placards was in line with the law.

These students may be a problem and a headache only for the ruling United Russia election headquarters (their electoral list is topped by the President), rather than for security services. And certainly, this "problem" should not be solved by means of detentions and preventive conversations in the police. I think that any distraction of the Federal Security Service from its main function is bad. It is harmful to the state.

October 18, 2011

YABLOKO to participate in elections to St.Petersburg Legislative Assembly for the first time in nine years

Press Release, October 16, 2011

YABLOKO list of candidates for elections to St.Petersburg Legislative Assembly has been registered by St.Petersburg Electoral Commission. "We are satisfied by the decision of the Electoral Commission," says Maxim Reznik, leader of St.Petersburg branch of YABLOKO. "For the first time in nine years residents of St.Petersburg will be able to support democratic opposition at the election to the city parliament. This is a big chance for changes for the better in every day lives of the city residents. We will do all we can so that not to miss this opportunity," Reznik adds.

YABLOKO had to collect about 40,000 voters' signatures for registration in the election campaign...

October 17, 2011

YABLOKO submitted to the Central Electoral Commission voters' signatures for registration in the election campaign

Press Release, October 17, 2011

Today, on October 17, YABLOKO submitted to the Central Electoral Commission voters' signatures required for party registration in the parliamentary election campaign. Party activists and YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin brought to the Central Electoral Commission 14 carton boxes decorated as wooden boxes with apples (as "YABLOKO" means "apple" in Russian). The boxes contained files with 157,471 signature and the accompanying documents. "I am certain that YABLOKO's list will be registered," Sergei Mitrokhin said.

The initial inspection of the financial report lasted for over an hour. Only after this the Central Electoral Commission permitted to take the boxes with signatures into the Central Electoral Commission office and launched recounting of signatures. The next stage will be a random draw of several files with signatures that will be checked by the Central Electoral Commission experts. The Commission should conduct an audit of at least 20 per cent of signatures.

The results of the audit will be announced within ten days in compliance with the law...

Grigory Yavlinsky: 'Change Is Only Possible If There Is An Alternative'

RFE/RL, The Power Vertical, October 12, 2011

The Power Vertical: When you announced your return to politics you said you said that this was one of those moments when change was truly possible. That was before United Russia held its congress on September 24 and Vladimir Putin announced his intention to return to the presidency. Do you still see a opportunity for change?

Grigory Yavlinsky: I see an even greater opportunity. People now see that if there isn't a change things will be just like they are now for another 25 years. People want the situation to change. I think Putin's return and Putin's [United Russia] congress showed people the necessity of change even more than before. The reaction in society and in the elite shows this. For example, after the congress the number of people who want to work with me and with Yabloko rose sharply. Even those who were more moderate or indifferent are now in a different mood. They have been under pressure from these conditions for such a long time. What does [Putin's return] mean? It means the preservation of the previous style and the previous agenda. It means the same faces on television. It means everything will remain the same. People can't take this anymore...

Forum 2000: The Rule of Law in Russia

Grigory Yavlinsly's speech, October 10, 2011

...The panel examined the absence of rule of law in Russia. The keynote speaker Grigory Yavlinsky distinguished this absence by the lack of independent justice, the influence of the political elite and of money. He identified three root causes of the problem: the 1917 state coup in which “a criminal group of people were taking power in Russia,” the privatization process of the 1990s, and the support of the international community for the political and economic reforms of the 1990s. Mr. Yavlinsky also stated that “Russia’s corruption is a joint venture with the West.”

William Browder then spoke on the possibility of international action putting pressure on the Russian political elite to interrupt this joint venture. While Grigory Yavlinsky later reiterated the importance of initiating change from within Russia, stating that Russian “politicians all know, personally, that it is [their] task to change the system.” Vadim Klyuvgant followed with an analysis of the Russian “dictate of law.” He insisted on individual human rights as a foundation for rule of law.

Bobo Lo continued the discussion with a distinction between the notions of “rule of law” and “rule by law” which prevails in Russia. He defined this concept as the “use and abuse, particularly, of laws and administrative regulations to support power rather than justice.” The panel recognized the validity of Yavlinsky’s view that “there is no rule of law in Russia and we must implement it.”...

October 13, 2011

YABLOKO collected 203,000 signatures for registration in the parliamentary election campaign

Press Release, Video, October 13, 2011

YABLOKO has finished its campaign for collection of signatures required for registration in the election race. On Monday, October 17, YABLOKO will submit 150,000 signatures to the Central Electoral Commission for registration in the parliamentary election campaign. According to the Russian law parties have to submit signatures to the electoral commission by 6 p.m. of October 19.

The law on parliamentary elections is very tough: it envisages that non-parliamentary parties have to collect at least 150,000 voters’ signatures; whereas a region can not give more that 5,000 signatures. Also the signatures should be collected in at least half of Russian regions.

YABLOKO’s campaign for collection of signatures lasted three weeks (from September 21) in 74 Russia’s regions which allowed to collect 203,000 voters’ signatures in favour of YABLOKO. Over 4,000 collectors of signatures took part in the campaign...

Head quarters for verification of the lists of signatures were established in YABLOKO’s Moscow office. For the past two weeks 40 people have been working there from morning till night receiving lists with signatures brought from all over the country, as the Central Electoral Commission can announce signatures void due to minor inaccuracies of the subscribers...

October 12, 2011

YABLOKO's Olga Vlasova on the initiative of the Youth Public Chamber of Russia on elimination of visas between Russia and the EU

Press Release, October 12, 2011

Video: Russia Today, October 11, 2011

 

St Petersburg branch of YABLOKO submitted to the Electoral Commission 40,000 voters' signatures for party registration in the elections to St.Petersburg Legislative Assembly

Press Release, October 7, 2011

Candidates to deputies of St.Petersburg Legislative Assembly and top candidate of the list Grigory Yavlinsky submitted to the Electoral Commission of St.Petersburg 37,305 voters' signatures required by law for YABLOKO�s registration in the election campaign...

Every day the web-site of St.Petersburg YABLOKO published updated information on the number of collected signatures and also broadcasted the news on collection of signatures from YABLOKO's office in St.Petersburg.

Such famous public figures as actor Oleg Basilishvili, musician Yury Shevchuk, film director Alexander Sokurov, writers Daniil Granin and Boris Strugatsky, actors Alexei Devotchenko and Larissa Dmitriyeva, activists fighting for preservation of historical buildings of the city Alexander Margolis and Yulia Minutina and many others put their signatures for YABLOKO.

Dr. Grigory Yavlinsky, YABLOKO's founder and Professor of the Higher School of Economics, tops YABLOKO list in St.Petersburg. YABLOKO list in St.Petersburg contains 54 activists, including leaders of St.Petersburg branch of YABLOKO - Maxim Reznik, Mikhail Amosov, Boris Vishnevsky and Natalia Yevdokimova.

October 10, 2011

YABLOKO continues collection of voters’ signatures for registration in the parliamentary election campaign

Press Release, October 7, 2011

Another action in support of YABLOKO’s list of candidates to the Russian parliament took place by the Moscow State University in Moscow. Activists made a show performance and also collected signatures required for YABLOKO’s registration in the election race.

ALDE welcomes overdue launch of new Schengen visa information system
Press Release, ALDE, October 10, 2011

After two years delay, tomorrow the EU will finally launch the Visa Information System (VIS); a database which will improve the processing of visa applications and biometric data for visits from non-EU nationals to the EU’s Schengen zone. Sarah Ludford (LibDem, UK), ALDE spokesperson on EU visa policy and author of Parliament's report on the VIS system, said: "VIS is now finally live but the two year delay is dismaying. The need for an efficient border control system to combat illegal immigration while keeping the EU open to genuine travellers justified a greater urgency"...

October 7, 2011

YABLOKO paid tribute to the memory of Anna Politkovskaya

Press Release, October 7, 2011

YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin participated in actions the memorial evening of tribute to Anna Polytkovskaya, human rights activist and journalist of Novaya Gazeta, murdered in the five years ago on October 7, 2006...

“I have always admired Anna Politkovskaya’s courage and firmness in the search of the truth. We will spare no effort so that the culprits of this murder be detected and justly punished,” Mitrokhin said.

October 6, 2011

YABLOKO leaders and activists to pay tribute to the memory of Anna Politkovskaya

Press Release, October 5, 2011

YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin and Executive Secretary of YABLOKO Political Committee Galina Mikhalyova will participate in the memorial evening of tribute to Anna Polytkovskaya, human rights activist and journalist of Novaya Gazeta, murdered on October 7, 2006. The evening will be organised by Novaya Gazeta.

On Friday YABLOKO activists are invited to the House of Journalists to a film about Anna “A Bitter Taste of Freedom” directed by Marina Goldovskaya. The work on the film began in 1990 (Anna told then how she had started working in Chechnya) and went on for 20 years.

In the evening YABLOKO activists will lay flowers to the place where Anna was murdered (Lesnaya 8).

Is the Common Economic Space destined for migrant workers and drug trafficking?

Press Release, October 5, 2011

An exciting picture of a bight future painted with wide strokes – the idea of a Common Economic Space (CES) and the Eurasian Union (see Vladimir Putin’s article in Izvestia) – is virtually pained over the problems that can become crucial for Russia already in the short perspective.

What are the proposed guidelines for such integration with Russia’s participation? Obviously, Vladimir Putin intends to focus on the Asian vector, rather than the European. However, there are no grounds (at least for Russia) to count that [Russia’s] “joining the Eurasian Union ... will allow every member state to integrate into Europe quicker and from stronger positions”...

October 5, 2011

Danish government negotiations concluded – Radikale Venstre gets six Ministers!
ELDR Press Release, October 4, 2011.

Following two weeks of intense negotiations after the Parliamentary elections on 15 September 2011, a new government was announced on Monday in Denmark, to be led by Social Democrat Party Leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt, who thereby becomes the country’s first ever female Prime Minister. Also the overall government held a good gender balance. Out of a total of 23 Ministers, 9 are female and 14 male. The new Danish coalition government features three parties, including ELDR Member Det Radikale Venstre (Radikale), who goes into the coalition as the second force and will receive six Ministerial portfolios, the heaviest obviously being Party Leader Magrethe Vestager's beefed up, combined portfolio of Minister for Economy and Home Affairs, which will give Radikale a first-hand opportunity to steer the Danish migration policy into a new direction, following years of influence from the nationalist, anti-immigrant Danish People's Party on this area.

In addition to Vestager's portfolio, Radikale gains the following Ministers:

- Minister for Climate and Energy: Mr. Martin Lidegaard;

- Minister for Culture: Mr. Uffe Elbæk;

- Minister for Development: Mr. Christian Friis Bach;

- Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs, Equality and Nordic Cooperation: Mr. Manu Sareen;

- Minister for Research and Innovation: Mr. Morten Østergaard;

The ELDR Party would like to take this occasion to wish Det Radikale Venstre all the best for its upcoming challenges in Danish politics and the new government!

October 4, 2011

Liberals and Democrats maintain pressure for action plan on economic governance
Press Release, ALDE, October 4, 2011

Following last week's State of the Union debate in Strasbourg, the ALDE group will follow up on commitments made by President Barroso to strengthen economic governance in the Union and propose concrete measures to deepen economic and fiscal integration.

Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the Liberal and Democrat group in the European Parliament had praised Barroso for his passionate defence of the Union and the central role for the European Commission in economic governance, but underlined the importance of the same message being repeated to EU leaders at their next summit in Brussels on 17-18th October...

Prospects for European Liberals in this decade. By Sir Graham Watson, MEP. September 2011
“I hope still to contribute to the task of building Liberal strength across the continent of Europe and beyond. I believe there is much to play for.
The European People’s Party is an inherently unstable coalition, the European Socialists a party in terminal decline. The opportunity for a stronger centre is immense.”

With these words I concluded my book ‘Building a Liberal Europe - the ALDE Project’ published late last year. The book tells the story of the Liberal contribution to the building of the EU from the first direct elections to the European Parliament in 1979 to the elections of June 2009. But the story of liberalism did not end there.

Since then the Lisbon Treaty has entered into force, giving the EU institutions new competences; substantial moves have been made towards common economic government for the countries sharing a common currency, in conjunction with moves to control the greed of the financial community; the EU has been challenged to turn its fine words into action in the fight against climate change; and the foundations have been laid for a common foreign and security policy. Liberal thought has contributed to these. But where do we go from here? How can we contribute to the EU's 'work in progress'?...

October 3, 2011

YABLOKO’s leader at The Last Autumn forum

Press Release, October 2, 2011

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin participated in the forum of civil activists The Last Autumn taking place in the Moscow region. In his speech YABLOKO’s leader analysed Russia’s political system. According to Mitrokhin, a specific part of the society spent time on find the differences between Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev instead of searching for the alternatives. Those calling to vote for any party other than the ruling United Russia fell into another extreme, Mitrokhin said...

Party activists collected signatures for the registration of YABLOKO in the parliamentary elections campaign during the Forum. Alexei Navlany, a blogger famous for his anti-corruption investigations, put his signature in support of YABLOK. Also about 110 participants of the Forum signed for YABLOKO.

An alternative to Vladimir Putin

Sergei Mitrokhin’s blog at the Echo Moskvi web-site, October 2, 2011

A game depicting an alleged conflict between Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev went on for a long time and was very exciting. A huge number of people were persuaded that the President was an alternative to the Prime Minister. Political scientists also tried to look clever saying very “smart” things. There even emerged such organisations like the Institute of Contemporarily Development, INSOR, [by Igor Yurgens] that built their modernisation concepts on such "differences" [between Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev]...

I'm not going to campaign for the YABLOKO party here, which also has never been a Kremlin’s project and has been in opposition to Vladimir Putin since 1999. I just would like to say that in case of mass-scale voting for us, the government would receive a very clear signal that the society does not need any "strong hand", but needs simply a DEMOCRATIC LAW-GOVERNED state.

The "strong hand” is not an alternative to Vladimir Putin, but a European-style democracy is such an alternative.

 

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