Democracy
Photo by Steamtalks: Saint Petersburg, summer 2008, Russia, CC-Licence
Photo by Steamtalks: Saint Petersburg, summer 2008, Russia, CC-Licence
Russia is not a democracy. Nor though, is it a dictatorship. Life in Russia is now incomparably freer than it used to be. Though on an uneasy footing with the West, Russia is no longer its enemy. For many centuries an empire, Russia must now, rather grudgingly, turn itself into a nation state. The path it must take is a thorny and twisting one. At this point it is hard to say whether Russia will be able to (or even wants to) find its way. The hardware, in the form of a liberal constitution, is in place, but for many the software is lacking: a democratic political culture, the belief and trust that democracy would be good for Russia and could function.

Since the early 1990s the Heinrich Böll Foundation has been collaborating in Russia with the people and organisations that hold that belief and are acting accordingly. Primarily these are  NGOs, based all over the country. As a result, over time, a sturdy and continually expanding network of partner organizations has taken form.

Society Memorial has been our most important partner since 1990. The work that Memorial performs is often difficult and painful: dealing with the dark side of the totalitarian era, with the GULAG and repressions under Stalin, human rights abuses of the past and of the present day. That work though is necessary and indispensable for a stable democratic development.

Democracy in Russia

European Parliament’s Sakharov-Prize for Memorial

On 16th of December 2009 our long-standing partner organization "Memorial" has been awarded the European Parliament's Sakharov-Prize for Freedom of Thought. Sergei Kovalev and Oleg Orlov of "Memorial" as well as Ludmila Alexeyeva of the Moscow Helsinki Group have accepted the award in Strasbourg on behalf of "Memorial" and explicitly representing "all human rights activists in Russia". In his acceptance speech Sergei Kovalev reminded of all Russian human rights activists that have been murdered this year.
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/focus_page/015-66082-341-12-50-902-20091207FCS66069-07-12-2009-2009/default_p001c007_en.htm

1989

Twenty years after - Post-communist countries and european integration

November 24, 2009 - October 19, 2009 - In the words of the Polish journalist and dissident, Adam Michnik, 1989 was Europe's annus mirabilis. The peaceful revolution of that year was a miracle effected by the people in central and eastern Europe. more»

Stalinism

Recollections of stalinism.

Bring to your notice main speech of international human-rights society Memorial board chairman, Heinrich Böll Foundation partner Arseniy Roginskiy. Speech about different influence on historical policy of last years was made at the international conference «History of Stalinism. Results and problems of research». More information on this topic is available in Russian and German.

Jour-Fixe

Wednesday, 8 February 2012, , 19:00 – 21:00

Jour-Fixe: One year into the Arab Spring: Results, Developments and Outlooks

Mouin Rabbani is an independent Middle East researcher and analyst currently based in Amman, Jordan. He is a Senior Fellow with the Institute for Palestine Studies, Contributing Editor to Middle East Report, and Co-Editor of Jadaliyya.

Irina Zvyagelskaya holds a PhD in History and is Professor, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies and the Russian Academy of Sciences. She has been lecturing at the Moscow Institute of International Relations under the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation and at The Institute of African and Asian Studies (Moscow State University). Her fields of interest are conflicts, international relations and security issues (mainly in the Middle East and Central Asia). She is author of six books and over 200 articles and chapters.

Moderation: Sergey Lukashevsky, Director of the Sakharov Museum and Public Center

Venue: 

Conference room (2. floor) 

 

A 50-year catastrophe
An exhibition about the consequences of the 1957 nuclear accident at the MAYAK nuclear coplex.
RUSSLAND-BLOG ERENE Demokratie in Russland. Dossier in deutscher Sprache.
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