May 1:
Russia's demographic fortunes have improved "markedly" in recent years butremainprofoundlynegative,according to a new study from the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. The report, entitled "Critical 10 Years. Demographic Policies of the Russian Federation: Successes and Challenges," notes that the total fertility rate has risen from 1.3 children per woman in 2006 to 1.7 children per woman in 2012. But "[d]espite the recent positive dynamics of the birth rate... the potential for a demographic crisis is not over." "In 10 years the number of women in the most active reproductive age (20-29 years, when almost two-thirds of all births take place), will fall by almost half; this will inevitably lead to a reduction in the number of births." Moreover, according to the report, mortality remains "very high," with Russia ranking 22nd highest in the world in terms of the death rate.
This, the study notes, places the country at a critical crossroads. "[T]he price of today's decisions on demographic policy could be as high as the lives of more than 50 million of our fellow citizens, that is, morethanone third of the population." Measures like improvements in health care, tax benefits for families, and steps to prevent out-migration, if implemented in the near term, could reverse Russia's long-term population decline. But in this effort, the study concludes, time is of the essence. "This opportunity will be irreversibly lost in 10 years."
May 2:
Is Latvia the Kremlin's next target? The Los Angeles Times reports that officials in the small Baltic nation are increasingly worried about separatist tendencies among the country's large Russian minority - stirrings that they fear could be exploited by Moscow in a Crimea-style intervention. Thirty-eight percent of Latvia's population of 2.1 million are native Russian speakers, and Russians make up most of the country's cohort of noncitizens, which represents 13 percent of the overall populace. Fears of political organization among this segment of the population were fanned earlier this year, when the Republic of Latgale, in the country's east, declared independence in an online announcement. The move sparked concern in Riga, and legal action from the Latvian Interior Ministry, whose head, RihardsKozlovskis, has declared that "an invitation to undermine the territorial integrity of the Republic of Latvia is a criminal action."
May 4:
Europe is organizing to insulate its members from Russian propaganda. Sputnik, citing European diplomatic sources, reports that EU leaders are in the opening stages of formulating a "plan of action to counter the Russian disinformation campaign." The word comes in the wake of Finland's late-April creation of a working group to fight "false information" being disseminated by the Kremlin.
May 5:
Russia's deteriorating relations with the West have led to a worsening of conditions for NGOs within the country, Al Jazeera America reports. According to the news channel, the Kremlin has stepped up enforcement of a July 2012 law mandating all nonprofits that receive funds from abroad to register as "foreign agents." The law, which is broadly opposed by NGOs throughout Russia, imposes steep fines for noncompliance. And, amid ongoing tensions with the United States and Europe over Ukraine, Moscow has intensified its enforcement, leading to fears of "intrusive searches and unannounced inspections" throughout the country's non-profit sector.
The campaign, Russian observers say, is a means to a clear end: greater political control. "The state is basically eliminating the infrastructure of Russia's NGO sector ahead of the 2016 elections," says MariaKanevskaya of the Human Rights Resource Center. "That's what they planned to do [with this law], and they're succeeding."
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