Free Republic

Treason!   USA sold us to Russia.   ( http://www.efakt.pl/Zdrada-USA-sprzedaly-nas-Rosji,artykuly,52626,1.html ) (translation from Polish)[The end of anti-missile shield! Americans break promises. There will be neither a US base in Poland nor a radar in Czech Rep.What about our security now?! We've been left on the thin ice.] The strategic ally? The solid rock of our national security? The end of illusions. United States, which could always rely on us, turned its back to us. The President of USA just threw to the garbage bin  the project of building the Anti-Missile Shield in Poland and Czech Rep. The powerful military fascility could strengthen our...

A proposed law could make comparing Soviet rule with that of the Nazis a crime. Intellectuals fear a manipulation of Russia’s past.A bitter joke from the Soviet-era has it that Russia is the world's only country with an unpredictable past. That jibe has come winging back in recent days, after the Kremlin announced the creation of a special 28-member panel tasked with examining and combating examples of "historical revisionism" that harm Russia's image. The committee, which has no legal power, is chaired by the head of President Dmitry Medvedev's administration, Sergei Naryshkin, and includes a sprinkling of historians but also...

Russian riot police have forcibly broken up a rally being held in the eastern city of Vladivostok. About 500 people had gathered in the city's central square to demonstrate against a new tax on imported cars. Witnesses said police officers kicked protesters, damaged journalists' equipment and made dozens of arrests. Vladivostok, one of several cities holding protests, depends heavily on car imports from Japan and critics say the tax could push prices up by 50%. The tax is intended to help prop up Russia's domestic car industry and prevent people buying cheaper, imported products.

moscow • Russia halted deliveries of oil products to Estonia yesterday in a move that coincided with protests in Moscow over the Baltic state’s relocation of a Soviet war memorial. The cut-off was likely to revive Western fears the Kremlin is using its energy might as a political weapon against ex-Soviet neighbours. Russia’s state rail monopoly said it planned to carry out maintenance on the rail link to Estonia, disrupting supplies. Coal exporters said Russian railways had also halted exports of steam coal via Estonia for this month, totalling up to 900,000 tonnes, citing a shortage of railway wagons. They...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan agreed on Sunday to eventually sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with Russia, as Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz is set to visit the country soon. Sources said Russia had approached Pakistan in March 2005, seeking to enhance trade relations between the two sides, and Pakistan has given positive indications to enter into further trade leading to the FTA. Aziz’s visit to Russia will pave the way to the FTA between Pakistan and Russia, the sources said. The Pakistani government has told Russia the enhancement of trade between the two countries was on the top of its agenda, and...

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) issued New Year's greetings Saturday to a former pro-Soviet partisan convicted in Latvia of killing civilians during World War II. Vassily Kononov, 80, was convicted last year of war crimes for ordering the killing of nine civilians, including a pregnant woman, in 1944 when Latvia was occupied by Nazi troops. He was a leader of a small band of partisans fighting the Nazis. Kononov was sentenced to 20 months' imprisonment, but was freed because he had served that much time in pretrial detention. Many Russians consider Kononov a legitimate war...