Press Release, 9.12.2023

Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

Grigory Yavlinsky made a political report at the Yabloko Сongress. He spoke about the need for a ceasefire in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, about political prisoners, the economic situation and the upcoming elections. A significant part of the report was devoted to the future of Yabloko in the Russian politics. According to the party leader, the role of the party must radically change: Yabloko is no longer a party trying to correct the policies of the state. The circumstances in the country are such that Yabloko should become the party in power. This is exactly what is needed for the future of Russia.

“You need to be able to talk with people, rather than the club on the Internet. We must explain to people the reasons for what is going on and what lessons should be learned from it. We must learn to express the aspirations of the people. We must explain how life in our country should be arranged and organised. We must strive to become the party in power. To make Russia one of the best countries in the world for its citizens, a country where people are respected and protected. This work is dangerous and very difficult, but neither the country nor we have any other way,” Yavlinsky said.

According to Yavlinsky, people are now frightened and disoriented by “the special military operation, inflation, mobilisation, emigration, isolation, economic uncertainty and rapidly falling down stability.”

The Yabloko leader named three topics that Yabloko need to discuss with Russian citizens. The first is the need for a ceasefire agreement in the conflict with Ukraine. “We need to talk to people about the possibility of moving away from the “hot” stage of the special military operation to the “cold” stage, convince them that it is possible, necessary and achievable. Then they will think about the ceasefire as a  realistic thing,” Yavlinsky explained.

The second topic is the reasons that led to the discredit and absence of democracy, an effective market economy, freedom and a modern model of the state in Russia. “Russians must know how and why Russia has come to the present situation,” Grigory Yavlinsky said.

Third, Yabloko members must shape the image of the future. Regardless of the political situation, the political and economic model of the European Union remains an example for Russia. “This is a structure that gives people a normal life and hope for the future,” Grigory Yavlinsky emphasised.

Yavlinsky is convinced that Russia will be able to survive under sanctions, but “if we regard the country and the people only as a resource, then this is the path to depletion and decay.” “Russia will be able to turn the isolation, which we got into for justified reasons, to its advantage if people become the priority in our country,” the politician said.

Grigory Yavlinsky

is Chairman of the Federal Political Committee of the Russian United Democratic Party Yabloko, Vice President of Liberal International, PhD in Economics, Professor of the National Research University Higher School of Economics.