Boris Yeltsin, Boris-Yeltsin.com

Boris

Boris Yeltsin Resigns.

Yeltsin’s grand exit

UNITED STATES–You can call Boris Yeltsin many things, but don’t call him boring. With his customary flair for the dramatic, the former Russian president announced on New Year’s Eve, the last day of the 20th century and the second millennium, that he was stepping down, leaving the leadership of Russia in the hands of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Though Mr. Yeltsin has been shaky both personally and politically for years, the news nonetheless landed like a bombshell amidst the international coverage of millennium celebrations around the world. …

Russia’s first elected president [Yeltsin] was clearly a flawed vessel for all the hopes that were placed on him. Boris Yeltsin was a transitional figure. The question now stands, transition to what?

–Washington Times

January 2, 2000

Russia’s flawed reformer

UNITED STATES–In suddenly resigning as Russian president on Dec. 31, Boris Yeltsin showed once again why he will be remembered as a practitioner of the unexpected political stratagem. Like so many of Mr. Yeltsin’s gambits over the years, the move upended expectations and scrambled Russian politics. It also came with a promise of immunity from prosecution for Mr. Yeltsin for any misdeeds of his government. That will likely roil the coming presidential campaign, a fitting legacy for a courageous but disappointingly erratic man who guided Russia through the first years of a turbulent, still unfinished journey from tyranny to democracy. …

Many Russians will doubtless question the sincerity of the apology Mr. Yeltsin offered for the mistakes he made and the economic hardships that so many of his countrymen have endured. More information will be needed before anyone can judge whether the decision to spare Mr. Yeltsin from possible prosecution was warranted or wise. However, Russians ought not to forget the singular achievements of Boris Yeltsin. For all his maddening weaknesses, he led his nation toward democracy after 1,000 years of tyranny.

–New York Times

January 2, 2000

President putin

UNITED STATES–Mr. Yeltsin obviously felt that the beginning of the year 2000 was an appropriate time to bring on fresh young talent. Mr. Putin distinguished himself in the December parliamentary elections by leading a new “Unity” political party to a surprising showing. Unity gained 16.5 percent of the seats in the lower house, chipping the dominant Communist party down to 24.5 percent from 34.9 percent four years earlier. With Mr. Putin in a position to distribute favors, there is a good chance that Unity will attract enough smaller parties to its banner to have effective control of the legislative body.

Another test Mr. Yeltsin assigned Mr. Putin before awarding him the top spot was to mend fences between the Kremlin and the powerful regional governors, who control the upper house of parliament. If those efforts have at least some success, that further enhances the possibility that Mr. Putin will be able to pass crucial legislation. The Communists in the parliament were so resistant to reform that Mr. Yeltsin was often pushed by his frustrations into extreme measures, the most notable of which was using artillery to smoke legislators out of the Russian White House. …

Mr. Yeltsin proved that he had one last arrow in his quiver. He apologized that he was not able to do more for the Russian people, a remarkable admission for a politician anywhere. Yet, he deserves vast credit for breaking communism and knowing that it was time to leave, so that Russia can turn a corner and put itself in the hands of a new, more liberal generation. He made it clear that he feels that the Communists are finally whipped and that there is no way they can turn back the clock to the “gray, stagnating, totalitarian past.” The Communist party is shrinking as old Soviet hands retire or die.

–Wall Street Journal

January 3, 2000

Democratic act

RUSSIA–No matter what people say about Yeltsin, his last move shows that he makes his own decisions. He quit when he wanted, making sure that his candidate will win the presidential election, his resignation ruining the others’ chances. We don’t know what kind of president Yeltsin’s “heir” will be, but we certainly won’t have a Communist Party candidate for president. That, basically, is Yeltsin’s political legacy.

–Segodnya

January 5, 1999

Yeltsin’s three pillars

RUSSIA–All these years Yeltsin, with a neophyte’s persistence, has upheld new Russia’s three pillars: Democracy, market economy, and freedom of speech, ready to sacrifice power, as well as his own life, to them. In reality, his passions looked quite different from his ideals. That happens to all “firsts.” Yeltsin can rightly be awarded the title of those who mean well but are short of time.

–Vremya-MN

January 5, 2000

This never happened before

RUSSIA–Russia hasn’t seen this happen before–an autocratic head of state, almost “doomed” to a life-long reign, of sane mind and firm memory, suddenly dons his coat and leaves to stay in history.

–Komsomolskaya Pravda

January 5, 2000

Courageous move

RUSSIA–Doubtless, that Boris Yeltsin has given up power on his own is a courageous move. But his New Year’s Eve surprise has its dark side, too. It has virtually deprived Putin’s potential rivals of a chance to prepare normally for the election. As in Soviet times, they now face an election without a choice. That doesn’t look like the triumph of democracy.

–Moskovskii Komsomolets

January 5, 2000

West must change on russia

RUSSIA–Putin faces a very difficult task. He ought to have the West change on Russia and do it fast. For a great power to be virtually isolated is absolutely intolerable. It is a matter of principle to Putin. Of course, Putin has already demonstrated that to ensure Russia’s integrity, he will stand up to the West if he has to. But there must be an end to any quarrel.

–Kommersant

January 5, 2000

Wrestling with the past

GREAT BRITAIN–Mr. Putin has gathered a team of advisers around him and has been articulating his views. He will be forced to reveal even more of his thoughts over the next three months in the run-up to the presidential elections, in which he is the clear favorite. Will he merely reveal himself to be the front man for Russia’s oligarchs, as some commentators have suggested? Or will he prove to be the dynamic, reforming president that Russia needs, capable of charting a third way between communist authoritarianism and lawless capitalism? There remain many doubts about Mr. Putin’s intentions–and ability–to pursue meaningful reforms.

Like Mr. Yeltsin in 1996, Mr. Putin also appears worryingly reliant on a group of financial oligarchs to finance his forthcoming election campaign. They will doubtless expect their reward. Mr. Putin may yet find that national Russian politics resembles less a constructive clash of ideas than a brawl among competing financial-political clans. For some, Mr. Putin appears to be Russia’s best hope. But if he is to succeed, he will first have to repeal what became known as the first rule of Viktor Chernomyrdin, the unsuccessful Russian prime minister of the early 1990s: “We hoped for the best but things turned out as usual.”

–Financial Times

January 5, 2000

Russia’s unknown civilian

GREAT BRITAIN–The fighting in Chechnya has catapulted Vladimir Putin from obscurity to the brink of a four-year presidential term. When Grozny is eventually taken, it is difficult to believe that he will not be in hock to the generals whose campaign has won him such popularity. By the end of March, Mr. Putin will want to have pacified Chechnya and to ride to electoral triumph on that achievement. Only then will we discover the nature of his political platform beyond the relentless prosecution of the war.

–Daily Telegraph

January 4, 2000

Should we fear putin?

FRANCE–Yeltsin’s designated successor presents himself as a reformer of national dignity. A vague program, but which plays on authoritarianism and confrontation with the West. Under the pretext of a fight against terrorism, the war against Chechnya will serve as a launching pad for the Putin rocket.

–L’Express

January 6, 2000

The two putins

FRANCE–Vladimir Putin looks like a two-faced man. According to him, the war in Chechnya would be a rebuilding action. He says Moscow is defending its national integrity against separatists. At the same time, he does not want to break with the West or the trade rules.

On the contrary, Putin presents himself as a supporter of reforms, determined to keep the direction Yeltsin held for the past ten years. He does not want a return match against the United States. Nor does he want to go back to communism by reinstating political dictatorship and a state economy. Putin is consistent: His first challenge is to modernize Russia. But it is not quite obvious that, for the new president, democracy is the best means to do it.

–Le Figaro

January 4, 2000

Expulsion from the paradise of kleptocrats

GERMANY–It was clear that Yeltsin’s daughter had to leave the Kremlin. By firing her, Putin has disposed of one of the worst residual burdens of his predecessor. He made this step immediately after taking office, since there is hardly anybody else in Russia who is considered so much the personification of Yeltsin’s kleptocracy in the Kremlin as [Yeltsin’s daughter] Tatyana.

It creates a good impression to disassociate oneself from such people but Putin has not yet broken with the Yeltsin team. Time will tell whether he will fire them or whether Putin will allow the “Yeltsin system” to continue its work with the well-known figures. But if he wants to become serious with his fight against corruption, Putin must get rid of many of his former mentors.

–Suddeutsche Zeitung

January 5, 2000

Clearing away yeltsin’s legacy

GERMANY–On January 3, the new man in the Kremlin cleared away the personal legacy of his predecessor. This creates hopes that, with the new generation at the top, a new understanding of politics will gain the upper hand. The Kremlin leader is exercising a tightrope act. He is working to improve his reputation but does not want to frighten off the old guard. Thus far he is aware of one fact: He will not be able to gain lasting support in Russia by showing strength only at the battlefield in Chechnya. The Russian people want a strong leader. However, in everyday life, Putin must demonstrate that he is able to show this strength in the fight against crime and omnipresent corruption.

–Sudwest Presse

January 4, 2000

Desire for order and revenge

ITALY–Will the acting president be able to reconcile the contradictory impulses that characterize his rise to power? The future of Russia and the future of its foreign policy will depend on this. But the West, even if it is forced to wait for the outcome of the March presidential elections, cannot limit itself to a superficial analysis amid one mistake and the other. Let’s not forget that if Putin still does not have a consistent policy, the West continues not to have a Russia policy.

–Corriere della Sera

January 5, 2000

The czar is still alive

ITALY–Yeltsin’s government is over, but not “Yeltsinism.” This is not the end of the family and its moguls. As for the war in Chechnya, it is so popular in Russia that even thinking of a defeat represents a betrayal of the Russian homeland. It is clear, therefore, that Yeltsin’s farewell is not the sad farewell of a leader but an able move so that nothing will change.

Even this “white coup d’etat” satisfies a majority of the Russians, like the war in Chechnya and the smart look of the new president. We may not like Vladimir Putin’s curriculum as a KGB man in Berlin but the Russians like him. It is needless to wonder whether this is ridiculous or alarming: Even the Russians have gained a right to have a leader they like.

–Il Sole-24 Ore

January 2, 2000

Putin capitalizes on russia’s mood

AZERBAIJAN–The events in Chechnya can still be used as a pre- election trampoline, and Putin is trying to gain points. His trip to Chechnya was not only the beginning of the pre-election campaign but also showed the mood, aims and methods of the new Russian leader.

These days, as the chauvinistic mood is soaring in Russian society, such behavior is really bringing dividends. However, it will hardly find understanding outside Russia. Instigation of virulent chauvinism is playing with fire. As the West is determined to exert pressure on Russia, Putin may have to deal with the consequences of his own “tough” policies during three pre-election months.

–Zerkalo

January 4, 2000

What will putin bring?

BELGIUM–All eyes are now focused on the new strongman in the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, and people wonder whether things will change with this man. His first official acts give the impression that he does not lack decisiveness: on a single day he signed 40 laws which Yeltsin was keeping in his drawer and he fired a key figure of the “family”: Yeltsin’s daughter Tatyana.

However, more is necessary than the removal of one Yeltsin clan key figure from power. Yeltsin did not succeed in turning his nation into a genuine democracy and the question is whether his successor will be able to do that. Admittedly, it is not an easy task to lead Russia to democracy after centuries of authoritarian regimes. In this field, the new Kremlin boss does not inspire much confidence. Above all, he is interested in a brutal victory in Chechnya and his entire policy is subordinate to that. He holds the press in his grip like his predecessors did, and human rights is not his strongest suit. In the struggle against the Mafia, no major victories have been achieved since his arrival. In a virtuoso manner, Putin is playing the feeling that Russia is still a superpower, which is attractive to the people. It is very much the question whether that superpower thinking is reassuring for the world–when it is linked to nationalism in a chaotic country.

–De Morgen

January 4, 2000

Putin’s independence

BULGARIA–Putin will have to patronize the oligarchy with one hand and beat up the Chechens with the other. This is the only way he could meet the expectations of the Kremlin elite and the Russian people, on whom he depends for staying in power. The real problem will appear when the new strong man of the Kremlin starts feeling independent enough not to depend on the Kremlin or the people. The constitution that Yeltsin produced could guarantee Putin “great independence.”

–Sega

January 4, 2000

A game with hidden cards

CROATIA–One thing is for sure: Yeltsin picked Putin as his “successor” because of his loyalty. He proved it by signing his first decree as the acting head of state granting amnesty to Yeltsin and his family. However, Putin conceals what kind of policy he will make if elected president. As a former intelligence officer, Putin is making cautious moves, well aware that before the presidential elections he must not displease those who helped him climb the Kremlin Olympus.

–Vecernji List

January 4, 2000

Russia’s development stalled

FINLAND–The immediate reason was not Yeltsin’s collapsing health, but tactics: to provide the best possible starting point for his successor candidate, Vladimir Putin. Yeltsin’s conduct was not entirely in keeping with the purest rules of democracy. But most Russians think that Yeltsin stayed in office for too long. Almost all of his second term was a personal catastrophe.

What kind of a leader Putin will be is a big question mark. Russians see him as a determined and energetic man, a representative of a new generation. Putin declared that the war concerns more than just the fate of Chechnya. His message was that it would mark the end of the disintegration of the Russian Federation. That is a tough goal and may take Russia into many conflicts in years to come. History will remember Yeltsin for his role in putting an end to the Soviet Union and communism and taking Russia on the road to democracy.

–Helsingin Sanomat

January 2, 2000

A huge triumph for democracy

LITHUANIA–The first resignation of a Russian president was a huge triumph for democracy in this country. For the first time in the history of this country, its leader–in a time of peace and without being forced by anyone–resigned from his post. This is a historically important event, before which pale all other circumstances.

–Lietuvos Rytas

January 4, 2000

Clear the way for putin

NORWAY–Boris Yeltsin has led Russia in a very important period in the transition from dictatorship to democracy. The biggest problem with Boris Yeltsin was the lack of predictability. Nothing indicates any big changes in Russian foreign policy in the time to come.

On home ground Putin has a gigantic task of getting the country’s economic situation in order. If it is to succeed, he must also have the will and ability to clean up the comprehensive corruption in the country.

–Dagsavisen

January 2, 2000

Apologist for a ‘third way’

POLAND–If the war in the northern Caucasus does not bring a disaster in the nearest future, then the West will have to accept a representative of a new generation of “enlightened” nationalists ruling in the Kremlin. Putin’s earlier statements indicate clearly that he rejects both Western liberalism and the return to Communism.

Therefore, Putin opts for combining the principles of free market economy and democracy with Russia’s realities. He is then the first high-ranking Moscow official who advocates the so-called “third way” of development.

–Prawo i Gospodarka

January 4, 2000

Russia’s fragile democracy

SLOVENIA–Russia had a historic opportunity. For the first time, the government could have been democratically transferred to Yeltsin’s legally elected successor. Yeltsin’s sudden resignation is some sort of a velvet revolution which was necessary to assure the continuation of the current policy. Thanks to the Kremlin’s present elite, Russia’s fragile democracy has not passed the exam. The government that assures continuity and its victory in democratic elections–as a result of a war and empty promises about a rebirth of the former great country–is very unpredictable.

–Delo

January 3, 2000

The man who dethroned communism

SWEDEN–Boris Yeltsin will be remembered in history as the man who managed to dethrone Soviet communism. And what picture can be more suitable than the one dated August 1991, when Yeltsin on top of a Soviet tank in front of the Russian parliament spoke out against the attempted Communist coup. But by his actions, as the head of the Russian Federation, Yeltsin, time and again, demonstrated that to him power was more important than democracy and freedom. Statesmen can be great in different respects, and Yeltsin’s greatness does not include democratic or liberal virtues.

–Svenska Dagbladet

January 2, 2000

Relations with putin

TURKEY–Using his popularity, Putin is going to reorganize politics and the economy in Russia, which could lead to a more central, authoritarian order. For Chechnya, he will take actions that will “wipe out” the issue, which means he will pursue a more nationalist policy. On foreign policy issues, Putin will not make any changes vis-a-vis Russian-American relations. Russia is opening up, and needs the Western world’s economic and moral support. On the other hand, it will not be a surprise if Putin defies the world on Chechnya or on the Caucasus.

–Milliyet

January 4, 2000

Yeltsin’s resignation

CHINA–Health is not a decisive factor in Yeltsin’s resignation. The media say the real purpose of Yeltsin’s quitting is to create favorable conditions for Putin’s competition in the upcoming elections. It is widely believed that success is already within Putin’s hand.

–Guangming Ribao

January 3, 2000

World jury out on putin

HONG KONG–While Putin’s drive to become Russia’s second democratically elected president looks increasingly rosy, his mission to lead the former socialist nation out of extreme economic difficulty will be challenging. The dilemma is that while foreign aid is vital to Russia’s economy and its reform drive, Mr. Putin’s hardline stance on Chechnya will only make it more difficult for Russia to gain the support. Mr. Putin’s dilemma is also that of the West. If he proves to be capable of keeping the country stable and carrying out reforms, will the West forgive him on Chechnya and provide aid?

–Hong Kong Standard

January 4, 2000

A legacy of freedom

PHILIPPINES–Yeltsin himself, after becoming an icon of democracy, increasingly came to be pictured as an inebriated buffoon. He cultivated a cabal led by his daughter, which reportedly used power for corruption. Yeltsin’s image as a democrat was scarred by his brutal crackdown on separatists in Chechnya. Yet under his watch Russians enjoyed unprecedented freedom and cemented ties with the West. Yeltsin’s legacy in the former bastion of communism is indisputable.

The world may have greeted his departure with little regret, and he may have botched Russia’s transition from strong-arm rule to democracy, but succeeding generations of Russian leaders will find it difficult to undo his democratic reforms. Yeltsin will always be remembered for his precious legacy of freedom.

–Philippine Star

January 2, 2000

Russia without yeltsin

SOUTH KOREA–Yeltsin’s resignation is yet another reminder of how skillfully he practices political strategy, choosing the right moment for his heir, Putin. It remains to be seen how wise his choice of Putin will prove to be. The fact is that Putin’s popularity rests mostly on the success of the military offensive against Chechnya, not on the strength of the heir’s political vision for Russia. No matter how whimsical Yeltsin may have been, he nevertheless is Russia’s hero, who … changed the country’s course in the 20th century. The world will not forget the courage with which he opened Russia’s door to democracy.

–Hankook Ilbo

January 3, 2000