The football fan protests in Moscow last weekend that led to random racist attacks in public by neo-Nazis and ultra-nationalists are apparently the fault of liberals wanting more freedom, according to the Kremlin’s chief ideologist, Vladislav Surkov. He told the pro-government daily Izvestia yesterday that, "Moscow and Russia need a civil peace. It’s actually our 'liberal' public that is constantly trying to make unapproved rallies trendy, and nationalists and rednecks just imitate them."
So when neo-Nazis see liberals peacefully demonstrating, they are seized by the urge to beat up non-Slavs on the streets of Moscow while chanting "Russia for the Russians". Makes perfect sense. If only these misguided, rights-loving, democracy-fixated fools would stop inciting nutjob extremists to kicking the shit out of innocent passers-by, then Russia would be a more placid place - the perfect location for a major football tournament, say.
Meanwhile Russian President Vladimir Putin, and very special friend of FIFA Executive Committee member Chuck Blazer, ordered a harsh clampdown on the right-wing extremists that led to 2,000 arrests in ten cities across Russia yesterday, accompanied by an interesting speech about how racism is a virus in society’s body that needs to be kept under control.
"If a person has good immunity, these viruses remain dormant," Putin’s quoted as saying in The Christian Science Monitor. "And the same thing with society; if society's immune system is strong, if society is mature, then these bacilli of nationalism and radicalism will just sit there quietly, at cell level, and not act up."
Okay, but what does he mean by "immunity"? The paper quotes Andrei Kolesnikov, editor of opposition weekly Novaya Gazeta, as saying that the clampdown is an over-reaction to a minor threat. "We are witnessing a breakdown of state institutions, and not a revolution or organized uprising by nationalists," Kolesnikov said. "The authorities have only one tool, and that is arrests. But this can lead only to a tougher regime. And this may be just what Putin wants. Perhaps he intends to use this to promote his own bid to become president again."
Playing the law and order ticket with frightened voters works well in all systems – be they democracies like the US or autocratic pseudo-democracies like Russia. Taking Surkov's and Putin's comments together, the violence following last weekend's nationalist demonstrations would be a handy excuse to crack down on all manner of demonstrations. A cynic might even point to the involvement of the Kremlin-approved Nashi thugs in the fan demos and say it was planned that way from the start.
Asked for a comment, FIFA President Sepp Blatter said that any fans attending the 2018 World Cup should “refrain from all democratic activities” while in the country. I have to add the caveat ‘just kidding’, because the quote sounds all too plausible.
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