An unusual event happened in Brussels over last weekend. I am talking about the launch of the first European Wind Day, a Europe-wide campaign to promote wind energy and bring it closer to people.
It was a fancy act - first, a spectacular exhibition took place right on the Schuman roundabout, right between the headquarters of the European Commission and the European Council building. In the centre of the exhibition was a real wind turbine, 25 meters of height and with a diameter of 20 meters. This 100 kW model is nothing in comparison with the typical modern turbines, usually 20 times more powerful and up to four times bigger. Yet, in the middle of a city, this 40 tonnes white rotating device cut an impressive figure.
The event was unavoidably combined with a press conference attended by EU Commissioner for Energy Andris Piebalgs. “Today we see that the technology is there and we can master whatever is necessary to achieve climate change and security of supply goals,” he said. The association which organised the event pushed the point further, providing data about the current and potential development of wind energy. After the adoption of the 20% binding targets of energy that has to come from renewables by 2020, wind has the possibility to provide in between 12% and 16% of EU electricity. Now, it is at 3%. A lot of work to do.
The press conference ended on a jolly note with Piebalgs breaking a bottle of champagne on the turbine. Maybe symbolically, the bottle broke only at the fourth attempt, when two kids from the audience came to help the commissioner. But this solemn event was not the end of it all - in the evening a party took place in front of the Commission’s Berlaymont building. Steady wind and techno music fuelled several hundred dancers, some of whom flew kites. Yet others, among whom your correspondent, ended up dancing on the stage.
Judging from the evidence on YouTube, French President Nicolas Sarkozy got a lesson in vodka-drinking from Russia’s President Putin at the G8 meeting last week. But has Putin also been teaching new-boy Sarko a thing or two about ‘press management’?
The French press has barely reported the infamous press conference; even the more left-wing media (Liberation, for example) have been almost silent on the issue. The clip has still not even been broadcast in France - it was first aired by Belgian broadcaster RTBF. The RTBF reporter was subsequently made to apologise. Charles Bremner in The Times and Tim King in Prospect have reviews of the limited coverage.
Yet thanks to good old YouTube, over 3 million people have watched the clip anyway. ”Was he drunk?” has become Question of the Moment in France (well, they needed something to talk about after ”Should Zidane have been sent off?” got boring).
Is this self-censorship? Or something more sinister? Either way, Sarko seems to have the French press firmly in his pocket - perhaps he picked up some tricks from the master over a couple of (bottles of) vodka?
Last week 24 EU countries announced an easing of the visa regime for Russian citizens travelling to the EU. Whilst this is a step in the right direction, the reforms should go much further. The EU should abandon the principle of reciprocity (the protocol by which visa regimes are only eased in parallel by both sides) and unilaterally disarm its visa regime with Russia. It is simply perverse for the EU to implore Russia to be ‘more like us,’ whilst making it impossible for ordinary Russians to experience life in a European democracy.
As of 1 June, Russians travelling to 24 EU countries (not the UK, Ireland and Denmark) will face slightly softer visa regulations. Although the announcement has been talked up by both sides, the changes actually only apply to a few categories of travellers ( members of official delegations, close relatives, students, disabled people, participants of exchange programs, some researchers and children under 6). The changes were agreed at the EU-Russia Summit in Sochi in May 2006.
For a normal Russian citizen, getting an EU tourist visa is still almost impossible. I won’t bore you with the details, but having just tried (and failed) to get an EU visa invite for a friend, I know what a nightmare it is. So a generation of Russians is excluded from the EU, taking their holidays instead in Turkey or Morocco where the visa regimes are friendlier.
Many young Russians have never been to Western Europe or any other liberal democracy. (Though Eastern Europe was a popular holiday destination in Soviet times). Don’t be fooled by the Prada-sporting Russians who have taken over Courchevel – they are a tiny minority. The average well-educated, young professional Muscovite cannot get an EU visa. It is any surprise, then, that many are wholly disinterested in democracy? They see the current Russian ‘opposition’ as a collection of loons, troublemakers and power-seekers.
Western governments are desperate to democratize Russia. But neither headmasterly tickings-off (George W. Bush), or pouring millions into elitist NGOs (George Soros) seems to be working. Perhaps that is because the vast majority of Russians don’t believe the product we’re selling. Having lived through communism, perestroika and the Putin era, Russians are understandably cautious shoppers when it comes to political systems. If a true democratic movement emerges in Russia, it will most likely be from the new middle class. Yet our visa regime denies these very people a taste of what they could fight for. A unilateral easing of the EU’s visa regime with Russia would do a lot for grassroots democracy in Russia.
I was on the bus the other day on the way home from uni. Driving through a residential area, one of the babushkas called out to ask the driver if he could take a different route to drop her at her door (apparently her leg hurt). A couple of other passengers chipped in that they wanted to go that way too.
The grumpy bus driver turned round: “How many of you want to turn left here?” There was a vague show of hands and a few requests (Naturally, he was still driving whilst carrying on a conversation with the back of the bus). It looked like a majority in favour, so we went left instead of following the official bus route.
On Tuesday, George W Bush made a speech in Prague accusing Putin of slowing democratic reforms. Of course Russia isn’t a model of democracy – it doesn’t want to be either. But I challenge you to find bus-stop democracy in the US or EU…
