Russia Reform Monitor: No. 1849

September 8:

As Russia opened the 18th International Association of Prosecutors conference in Moscow, the country’s leaders called for closer cooperation in to fight terrorism and organized crime. Voice of Russia reports that the conference is intended for participants from the U.S., Canada, the UK, France, and China to discuss the role of a prosecutor “in providing the rule of law and international cooperation issues.” “It’s obvious that we can effectively fight against global challenges, which are in plenty now, only by joint effort,” argued Sergei Ivanov, Russia’s Presidential Chief of Staff. “Among these challenges are terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime, money laundering, and tax evasion.” Experts have noted that such cooperation is only possible if there is trust in the legal system of participant countries.

September 9:

Russia’s opposition movement recorded its strongest electoral performance yet, as two of Russia’s largest cities held mayoral elections. Nonetheless, well-known opposition leader Alexei Navalny accused the Moscow elections as having “many serious violations.” Official results credited Navalny with 27.24 percent of the vote, and 51.37 percent to Kremlin ally Sergei Sobyanin. The margin was enough to clear the 50 percent threshold need to avoid a second-round runoff, The Guardian reports, but Navalny disputes that the election results were “deliberately falsified,” citing the results gathered by the Alliance of Observers, an election observation group, which counted only 49.7 percent for Sobyanin, and 28.3 for Navalny. In Yekaterinburg, considered Russia’s “third capital,” anti-drug activist Yevgeny Roizman defeated the incumbent from the ruling United Russia party in early polling totals. Election officials said that Roizman won by a margin of more than 3 percent, but results were still being finalized.

Despite the falsification claims, opposition activists lauded the results as a major victory against the Kremlin. “The old political system is dead,” said a commentator on the pro-opposition TV channel Dozhd. “What happened in Moscow and Yekaterinburg...is related to people who are not associated with any party” in the Kremlin-controlled political system. In the run-up to the election, experts said that 20 percent would be an impressive result for Navalny, who was polling in the single figures back in June.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called for improved efforts against the terrorist threat in Russia’s North Caucasus region ahead of the Sochi Olympics. “Despite the apparent improvement, the situation in the North Caucasus is improving too slowly,” Putin said at a meeting with the country’s Security Council. “The terrorist threat and other security challenges are not completely eliminated.” Itar-Tass reports that the President continued to add that improved security in the restive region is a priority for the Kremlin, with the long term goal of revitalizing business and investment activities.

September 11:

U.S. President Barack Obama asked Congress to postpone a vote on a resolution to authorize military force, in light of Russia’s recent proposal for Syria to hand over its chemical weapons under an international agreement. “It’s too early to tell whether this offer will succeed,” Obama cautioned, adding that the United States might still conduct military strikes if necessary in response to the Assad regime’s alleged use of chemical weapons. The Wall Street Journal reports that President Obama agreed to explore the Russians’ proposal after Syria admitted for the first time to possessing chemical weapons, and expressed a willingness to cease production and disclose the locations of the stockpiles. Even this proposal has not met with a consensus in the U.N. Security Council, as France seeks to include language in any agreement that leaves military action on the table, while Russia rejects the suggestion.

As the debate rages over international involvement in the Syrian conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin took the unprecedented step of appealing to the American public directly, in an editorial for The New York Times. Arguing against the strikes supported by the White House, Putin warned that “the potential strike by the United States against Syria, despite strong opposition from many countries and major political and religious leaders, including the pope, will result in more innocent victims and escalation, potentially spreading the conflict far beyond Syria’s borders.” The Russian President went on to warn that if the U.S. strikes without support of the U.N. Security Council, it will risk compromising the authority of the organization. “No one wants the United Nations to suffer the fate of the League of Nations,” he argued, “which collapsed because it lacked real leverage.”

Putin made a clear effort to push the Kremlin’s plan of “peaceful dialogue,” insisting that Moscow doesn’t seek to protect the Assad regime, but international law. “The law is still the law, and we must follow it whether we like it or not,” Putin concluded. “Under current international law, force is permitted only in self-defense or by the decision of the Security Council. Anything else is unacceptable under the United Nations Charter and would constitute an act of aggression.”

September 12:

Russia’s eastern region of Ulyanosk celebrated its eighth annual “day of conception,” as couples were encouraged to stay at home to procreate. The unofficial holiday is part of ongoing efforts in the Kremlin to boost birth rates, The Independent reports, and was first instigated in 2006 when then-President Vladimir Putin identified the demographic crisis as the most urgent problem facing Russia. Since then, experts have seen an upward trend in the country's slumping birth rate, as well as a general drop in the overall mortality rate, but fertility campaigns have remained a priority in the Kremlin.