Posted on 07/25/2005 9:55:35 PM PDT by KOZ.
Russians are unhappy with a hostile policy pursued by most former Soviet republics, showed an opinion poll carried out by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center on July 16-17. The survey encompassed 1,600 people in 153 locations across Russia.
CIS leaders best known to Russians were Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko and Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko: they were correctly identified by 85 and 76 percent of respondents, respectively. The least known were presidents of Moldova, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan (19, 16 and 14 percent).
Leaders of most former Soviet republics are pursuing an unfriendly policy towards Russia, most Russians think. Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko and Georgian head of state Mikhail Saakashvili were seen as the most active anti-Russian campaigners, with 55 and 53 percent of respondents describing their policy towards Russia as hostile. Moldovan leader is next in this line, with 38 percent seeing him an anti-Russian leader and 11 percent – as pro-Russian. Turkmen and Tajik leaders were seen as anti-Russian by 24 and 25 percent, and as pro-Russian – by 19 and 20 percent, respectively. The only exceptions were Belarus and Kazakh leaders, who were seen as pro-Russian by 52 percent and 50 percent of respondents, and as anti-Russian – by 22 percent and 15 percent.
Fifteen percent think Russian authorities have something to learn from Lukashenko, and eight percent said Russian officials could learn something from the Kazakh head of state.
Thanks for the note about Russia vs the U.S.R.R. That 'civilization model' comment was certainly dead on target.
Russians just don't seem to get it when it comes to having dominated others. They should understand it having been threatened seriously by the French and Germans themselves.
That's okay, they're still loved in Seattle. In fact, we might have more statues of Lenin up then Russia.
LoL...
An apology to the Ukrainian people for Stalin's engineered famine, which killed +-10 million people would be a good start.
Could move on from there to all of the churches he destroyed in Kiev and other cities in an effort to stamp out religion.
Regards,
Yup, except that Khazakstan, Belaruss, Kyrzstan, Uzbekistan, Tazikistan, Armenia aren't. But nice try.
Then go to Georgia where Stalin is still hailed as a national Hero. Especially the Gori region, where his museum is still open and running and the town is dominated by his statue.
Here we go again
You exhibit the Russian "we did those people a favor by conquering them" mindset perfectly. A lot of Brits still feel that way towards Ireland.
We never seem to get any further past this "Russia is guilty for all the woes of the Soviet Union" argument. A bit tedious.
I offer this as a solution. The leaders of every former republic of the Soviet Union should hold a conference where each and every one of them apologize for the roles their predecesors played in oppressing EVERY SINGLE ETHNIC GROUP AND NATIONALITY within the territorial boundaries of the Soviet Union, for murder of expats living abroad, for oppresion in the Warsaw Pact (and former Warsaw Pact people should apologize for the roles their own citizens played in oppressing their own). You cannot solely blame Georgians, Belarusians, Balts, Russians, Ukrainians, Kazakhs, Turkmen, Tadjiks, Armenians, Azeris, Moldovans, Jews, Poles, and Uzbek for what happened in the Soviet Union. Communism, Bolshevism, Totalitarianism and the people who ruled over all of the aforementioned ethnic groups/nationalities are the ones to blame. Rehashing the past and laying blame solely on the Russians feet gets us nowhere.
I'd also be completely delighted to see people actually research some claims before they make them. The man-made Stalinist Soviet famine did not miraculously stop at the Ukraine borders. It was a program of dekulakification and collectivazation. Last time I checked so-called Kulaks were living in every agricultural area of the Soviet Union, be it in Belarus, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Russia, etc.
It's sad that on FR there seem to be some who will revert to the very communist method of revisionist history, even while they cloak themselves in pseudo-patriotism and blame others for being less than loyal Americans.
Regarding the subject of this thread. The numbers are not surprising, and I'd be even more surprised if more than 20% of those polled actually have visited any of the former republics in the last 12 years. They get their opinion from slanted news reports that like to feed the "whole world is against us" mindset that does still grip, unfortunately, some Russians. Of course, there are some here on FR who must delight in the misperception that Russians are despised in the former republics. I have traveled all over the former Soviet Union and only in Estonia and in Western Ukraine have I witnessed open hatred of Russians. It's a shame, but only in Estonia and Western Ukraine have I seen open embracement of the fascist-supporting past these two areas share.
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