Lest we forget, Russia’s genuine attitude regarding representative government, one need only look at their track record.

In Russia, the authoritarian President Vladimir Putin, stripped Russians of their ability to elect their regional governors, under the guise, that appointing such officials would give Russia a leg up in fighting terrorism. Then the Russian government has sought to prosecute those who challenge (either vocally or politically) the authoritarian Putin. The Russian government has also labored to strictly control the media content, those news outlets that report stories unfavorable to the administration may quickly find themselves out of business. Then there was Russia’s ill-fated support for the former totalitarian regime in Ukraine, whose electoral shenanigans led to the Rose Revolution.

Now the Russians are at it again, as the Neo-Fascists in the Kremlin have just issued a report asserting that the clearly fraudulent “elections” in neighboring Belarus were legitimate. According to the Belarus Central Election Commission, president Alexander Lukashenko was re-elected with 83% of the vote. European observers have dismissed the election results. The State Department correctly refers to Belarus as Europe’s last dictatorship, obviously ignoring the Russian example for political reasons.

Exactly why is it that Russia is so eager to support totalitarianism in Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus and so on? Through these dictatorships, Russia has been able to extend its influence throughout the former Soviet Union. Still smarting from the dissolution of the USSR 14 years ago, the Kremlin has become increasing tolerant of authoritarianism as a means to reverse history.

Russia and Belarus have a particularly close relationship. There has even been talk of a federation between the two nations. As such, Russia has consistently backed President Lukashenko. And Lukashenko isn’t keen to see a repeat of the popular uprisings that emerged in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan and has thus vowed to crack down, clearly the actions of a champion of democratic freedom. Russia’s desire to legitimize these sham elections will only serve to harden resistance to Russian influence in the region. Perhaps those neo-fascists in the Kremlin should consider hiring the Rand corporation or some other research based think tank, perhaps then they would embrace a policy of supporting peaceful democratic change, rather than suppressing it, perhaps then Russia’s reputation in the region would be enhanced and the influence they so desperately want, would be forthcoming.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-03/20/content_4324309.htm