Putin and Merkel Trade Barbs in Kremlin Talks

By Nikolaus von Twickel

The St. Petersburg Times

Published: November 21, 2012 (Issue # 1736)

MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel traded barbs over Pussy Riot, human rights and democracy during Kremlin talks Friday that marked a turn in Berlin’s policy toward Moscow.

Merkel, who had been under pressure not to be soft on Putin, seemingly enjoyed confronting her host about the ongoing onslaught on the opposition.

During an at times fulminant panel debate in the Kremlin, she said that a series of recently passed legislation curtailed freedom and that the two-year prison sentences for Pussy Riot activists were too harsh.

A jovial Putin played down the criticism, saying the country’s partners hear about events in Russia “from far away.” He created fresh controversy by telling Merkel that the Pussy Riot members deserved no sympathy because they supported anti-Semitic positions.

The president claimed that one of the young women had hanged an effigy of a Jew in a city shopping mall and said “Moscow needs to get rid of such people.”

Bloggers quickly pointed out that this resembled a 2008 performance by the Voina radical art group, in which, however, no effigies but five volunteers were mock-hanged in a supermarket to criticize City Hall’s policies toward migrants and gays. And while two known Pussy Riot members did take part, their trial and sentencing this summer had nothing to do with that performance but solely with their singing in a Moscow cathedral this February.

Putin, however, insisted on his version during a news conference hours later. “They hanged in a Moscow supermarket three effigies labeled Jew, immigrant and another category, with the call to rid Moscow of these people. I believe this is a direct anti-Semitic insult,” he said.

The president also left listeners baffled by telling Merkel during the panel debate that Germany had been criticized by human rights groups because five of its states lacked a “law for the protection of information.”

Germany does have data protection laws in each of its 16 states and at the federal level. However, only nine states have freedom of information laws that guarantee citizens access to state documents. Observers quickly pointed out that Russia has no such law.

Merkel, who appeared relaxed and at times smug during the debate, which marked the end of the Petersburg Dialogue, an annual Russian-German forum, also suggested that her hosts could not deal with criticism. “If I were sulky every time I’m criticized, I wouldn’t last three days as chancellor,” she said.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week that it was useless to talk with the Kremlin’s critics in Berlin, calling them “hotheads” who were not among the friends of Russia.

Tension had been rising between Berlin and Moscow during past months, as German lawmakers prepared a highly critical report about the worsening opposition crackdown in Russia, which the Bundestag passed by a majority Nov. 9.

While Berlin has traditionally been one of Moscow’s staunchest supporters in the West, Merkel has recently faced strong calls from inside her ruling center-right collation for a more critical approach.

Unlike her predecessor Gerhard Schröder, who today heads the Nord Stream pipeline consortium, Merkel never established warm personal ties with Putin, but was said to get along very well with Dmitry Medvedev during his four-year stint in the Kremlin, which ended in May.

Her pragmatic course of wielding a “modernization partnership” with Moscow has been questioned since Putin’s return to the presidency, and Merkel has been criticized for investing too much hope in Medvedev.

However, Merkel stressed Friday that Berlin would continue its cooperation with Moscow — by pointing to the annual talks between Cabinet ministers from both governments, which also took place Friday in the Kremlin, and to the fact that more than 6,000 German companies are operating in the country.

Germany is Russia’s second-largest trading partner after China, and bilateral trade is expected to peak at $102 billion this year.

Ministers and business leaders from both sides signed 10 new cooperation agreements Friday, including a letter of intent between technology giant Siemens and Russian Railways to purchase nearly 700 trains for about $3.2 billion.