Karelia is burnt

What is the Russification of Karelia? Why are the apple -fed activists in Petrozavodsk? Why did the head of Alexander Khudilinen be lifted up in the republic?

On March 20, in the capital of Karelia Petrozavodsk, at a meeting on the arrangement of the border, the chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev made an unexpected statement that caused a great resonance in the republic. “Against the backdrop of the growth of anti -Russian rhetoric from the Western countries,” he said, “the intensification of nationalist and revenge -political socio -political organizations of Finland notes. Their impact increases through a number of domestic non -governmental organizations on the population of Karelia. ”

This statement caused, at least, bewilderment, and not only among representatives of various local non -governmental organizations (such as, for example, the republican movement of Karelia) or among opposition activists, but also among representatives of the authorities. The head of the Petrozavodsk city district Galina Shirshina was not at the meeting where Nikolai Patrushev spoke. She cannot recall any Finnish revanchist organizations.

Petrozavodsk is associated with Finland quite serious cultural, traditional roots

Galina Shirshina: I got the impression that Patrushev is a rather thoughtful and serious person. I think he is unlikely to go to such bully slogans. Or maybe he knows something that I do not know? Then I am very sorry that I was not present at this meeting.

Petrozavodsk is associated with Finland quite serious cultural, traditional roots. For decades, we have been developing twin relationships with the city of Varkaus, for example. We are friends with the city of Yoenesu. And the result of these twinflower and friendly relations are serious projects that were implemented in the territory of our city, mainly in the field of culture, in the field of communication. For example, young musicians from the city of Yensuu come here and give concerts here, and our guys go with concerts there. Within the framework of this project, a good large room was equipped so that children with disabilities could also take part in events and engage in music. This is also important because Petrozavodsk is a city with a full cycle of musical education. This is our pride! We have a conservatory, music technical schools, and music schools.

Galina Shirshina

It is due to openness, due to the explanation of what is happening in Russia, we can avoid a negative attitude towards our country

Of course, I do not want to lose these contacts, because they enrich both sides. What Patrushev was talking about is difficult for me to say. However, I took part in the Russia forum, which took place on the territory of Joensu, and the position of Finnish colleagues is what it is. They look at Russia with surprise. Discussing the results of the trip with colleagues from the republican business incubator, we said that it was due to this openness, due to the explanation of what is happening in Russia, and we can avoid a negative attitude to our country. It is no secret that the twin ties quite often made it possible to get away from military resolution of conflicts - in my opinion, this is very important.

Galina Shirshina was elected in September 2013 by the mayor of Petrozavodsk with the active support of the Yabloko party (a rare case in modern Russia). Member of the political committee of this party, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia Emilia Slabunova, also cannot understand the statements of Nikolai Patrushev.

Finland does not seek to regain its former territories, because she does not have any money to put them in order

Emilia Slabunova: This is an absolute invention. The Finnish and Karelian population is such a minimum percentage of the total number of residents of Karelia that, even if such separatist actions were taken by them, they would never have reached a critical mass. This is impossible mathematically, given the number of Finns, Karels and Veps. And most importantly - no one takes any action at all. And Finland does not seek to regain its former territories, because she does not have any money to put them in order. First of all, they know how to count money, and, secondly, revenge are not tuned to make such statements. So Patrushev’s statements are absolutely groundless and are made only in order to distract people's attention from real problems. Today we need to look for investors, effective managers, look for ways to get out of the crisis, and not enemies, internal and external.

The deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia Emilia Slabunova agrees to assess the statements of Nikolai Patrushev and activist of the republican movement of Karelia Vadim Shtepa :

When there are no real threats, they come up with them from scratch to create the appearance that their activities are useful

Vadim Stepe: When there are no real threats, they come up with them from scratch to create the appearance that their activities are useful. Since Karelia is a cross -border region, we have close ties with Finland: both human and educational, - whatever. We constantly communicate with colleagues from Finnish Northern Karelia. But there is naturally no revengeism on their part, even at the level of ordinary communication. Both we and they are glad that we are different from each other. This contrast creates a certain interest in each other in communication. They are interested in life with us, we are with them.

Vadim Shtepa

In Finland there are small organizations that unite the descendants of refugees from the Karelian Isthmus and the Northern Ladoga. One of them is the “Prikarelia” by Vacco Saksi. But all these organizations are marginal in the Finnish political field. Their views are not supported by any Finnish parliamentary party, even the right -wing, such a party as “True Finns”, perussuomalaiset . They distance from such moods. I explain this by the fact that the Finns are prudent people. They perfectly understand that even if you hypothetically imagine the return of these former territories, this will immediately cause taxes and a decrease in social benefits for the Finnish population itself. So they are very careful about this. They compare this situation with the situation that arose after the unification of Eastern and Western Germany, because there still has not been able to fully integrate the lands of the GDR.

Separatists and extremists in Karelia, it seems, is not visible

Separatists and extremists in Karelia, it seems, is not visible. However, in fairness it should be noted that these days in the Petrozavodsk City Court the process began on one local resident, 61 -year -old Vladimir Bogdanov , who is accused under article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - of inciting hatred. True, the ends of this case do not lead to Finland, but to the Moscow Region, to the village of Elektrostal, where the headquarters of the organization “The Spiritual Power of Rus'” is located, the head of the regional Karelian organization of which is Vladimir Bogdanov. Here's what he says:

Vladimir Bogdanov: A year and a half ago, I VKontakte went to the group "The Spiritual Power Power of Russia". This is the head of the socio-political association the king of the Orthodox-Horde, Grand Duke, Ataman Oleg Popov. I got acquainted with the materials of this organization and supported its Constitution, entitled “generic law”. In accordance with this constitution, there is a military tribunal that pronounces statesmen and officials who have committed a crime against our state. Ataman Oleg Popov appointed me the head of the regional organization in the Republic of Karelia, gave me a military rank-Major General, and the secular rank-the sovereign prince. I took up the selection of personnel. For six months of practical activities, from November 2013 to April 2014, I managed to create a group of five to six people, mostly youth.

National Patriot, Prince Sovereign Vladimir Bogdanov

Vladimir Bogdanov himself still cannot understand what his extremism is. Perhaps the authorities were frightened by the punishments that are intended for officials in the charter of this mysterious organization.

Vladimir Bogdanov: The punishment is imposed dishonestly fulfilling their duties to officials (and we now see this everywhere) - for theft, corruption, officials, for the genocide of the Russian people. In "Fear Law" the most stringent punishment is to put on a stake on Red Square - so that the people are seen.

The statement by the Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev on the thawing influence of the nationalist and revenge organizations of Finland on non -governmental organizations and the population of Karelia can also be seen in another light - in the light of the ongoing Russification of the Republic of Karelia. 95 years ago, in 1920, when the Karelian Republic in Russia was created, the Karelian labor commune, the Karelians were an absolute majority on their land and excited Karelian language. Today, of the remaining 40 thousand Karelians in the republic, whose population is more than 632 thousand people, few know the Karelian language. And the number of Karelians decreased during this time two and a half times. Russification continues. The President of the Karelian Congress Anatoly Grigoryev sadly talks about how it comes. For example, signs in Finnish disappeared from the streets of Petrozavodsk:

Printing publications are reduced, the number of radio and television programs in Finnish and Karelian is reduced

Anatoly Grigoryev: They are no longer there! The government still remained on the building, but in other places they have been gone for a long time. Printing publications are reduced, the number of radio and television programs in the Finnish and Karelian languages is reduced. We have a wonderful theater, it was called the Finnish Theater, arose in the first years of Soviet power. He was the pride of the USSR, the pride of the Republic of Karelia. People's artists of the USSR created there. And now, in this National Finnish Theater, more than 80% of the productions are in Russian - such an egregious fact.

Anatoly Grigoryev

Russification can also be observed in places of compact residence of the Karelians, in villages, in villages where they were the majority. And if you recall the pre -war history, then it was an absolutely Karelian population. There were practically no Russians there, only party Soviet chiefs came. These are Olonets, Perezhinsky, Kalevalsky districts. Now there are almost no Karelians left there.

There is such a trend: we are all brothers, we are all Russians!

There is such a movement from the federal center: to strengthen the Russification of the non -Russian peoples of Russia. There is such a trend: we are all brothers, we are all Russians! I can still understand when Russians and Ukrainians are Slavs, brothers. And the Baltic, Finnish peoples are a completely different group, Finnish Ugorskaya, unlike the Indo -European group of peoples, which includes Slavs, Russians, Ukrainians, etc.

All normal people just laughed at Patrushev’s statements

All normal people just laughed at Patrushev’s statements. He was here and said stupidity. And in general, how can one be in these conditions, when Russia is actively involved in the events in Ukraine, to say that in Finland there are some separatist creeps? Crimea is ours, and the Karelian isthmus of 1000 years was Karelian. Where did the land of the Karelians come from? And Karelians and Finns are one people. They are even closer to each other than Russians and Ukrainians. The stupidity says Patrushev.

Now the President of the Karelian Congress Anatoly Grigoryev is fighting for the existence of Carelia magazine in Finnish , the release of which the government of the republic has reduced 10 numbers a year to 2. Numerous petitions, letters to the President of Russia remain unanswered, or answers with unsubscribes. Anatoly Grigoryev himself recently, together with the public group, signed an appeal to Vladimir Putin, in which the guilt of the aggravation of the main problems in the republic is assigned to the head of Karelia, Alexander Khudilinen:

The stay of Mr. Khudilinen as head of the republic is harmful to everyone who lives in Karelia

Anatoly Grigoryev: The public group sent an appeal to the President of the Russian Federation, in which we stated that Mr. Khudilinen’s stay in the post of head of the republic harms everyone who lives in Karelia. It turns out that he is here - the main Russifier with the Finnish surname. Everyone is outraged by the fact that in the Republic of Karelia, to her leadership, to her government, a huge number of his proteges from the Leningrad Region came to her department. All of them are given large positions, salaries and so on. And in the end, not only Karelians, Finns, Vepsa, but all the inhabitants of Karelia became poor.

A native of the Leningrad Region, the head of Karelia, Alexander Khudilinen, restored not only human rights activists from organizations such as, for example, the Karelian Congress or the Republican Movement of Karelia. Local communists go to rallies for his resignation. They are joined by Karelian car carriers who are threatened with mass dismissals due to the decision of the republican government to give local bus routes to businessmen from the Leningrad region. The Yabloko party in Karelia was under severe pressure from the head of the republic. On March 25, along with the general director of the Lentorg trading house Alexandra Kornilova, a deputy of the Petrozavodsk City Council, a member of the Yabloko party, Olga Zalentskaya, was arrested.

They were arrested in the framework of a criminal case in 2014 upon the purchase by a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Karelia Anastasia Kravchuk (she is the wife of the famous businessman Vasily Popov) building, located at 75 Kalinina Street. According to the investigation, the price of the building was underestimated, the city treasury was damaged by the amount of more than 10 millions of rubles. Says a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia, member of the Political Committee of the Yabloko party Emilia Slabunova :

Emilia Slabunova: Olga Zaletskaya has two imperfect children, an elderly father (84 years old), her husband is swimming far beyond Russia. FSB officers waited for him to swim, practically made children hostages. They tried to ensure that Olga’s sister would take care of children. It immediately became clear to us that there were clear intentions to close Olga for a long time. Father was not informed at all.

Emilia Slabunova

It is very important for the authorities to maintain an ill -owned attitude towards representatives of opposition parties

Alexandra Kornilova is dependent on a 90-year-old mother, requiring constant care. By no standards, including legal (108 article of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation), it is impossible to justify such behavior of the FSB. The authorities are very important to maintain an ill -owned attitude towards representatives of opposition parties.

The disturbance of the arrests was expressed by the mayor of Petrozavodsk Galina Shirshina :

I do not want Petrozavodsk to be torn by some conflicts, scandals

Galina Shirshina: I have a clear position on the arrest of Olga Zaletskaya. She is my subordinate, a very active social activist. It implements an incredible number of projects, contacts different initiative groups. She is known in the city. And, of course, we were sure that the court would appoint a sparing preventive measure - such as house arrest, for example. Her arrest caused a storm of dissatisfaction with the public, and as a mayor I need to somehow control this storm. I do not want Petrozavodsk to be torn by some conflicts, scandals, especially since intelligent people live here.

The situation in Karelia is also complicated by the fact that the Lentorg company, whose director Alexander Kornilov was arrested with Olga Zaletskaya, belongs to one of the most influential people of the republic, a local businessman, a member of the Political Council of the Yabloko party Vasily Popov. Now he, together with his wife Anastasia Kravchuk, is abroad. Anastasia Kravchuk, a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia, intends to return to Russia, where she may be arrested. The Yabloko party opens against the return of Vasily Popov and his wife to Russia.

Recently, the head of Karelia, Alexander Khudilainen, met with President Vladimir Putin. Politicians suggest that at this closed meeting the issue of the future fate of Alexander Khudilinen could be discussed. According to the mayor of Petrozavodsk, Galina Shirshina , it is quite possible that in this regard, the head of Karelia began his election campaign. This may be explained by the pursuit of such a dangerous opponent as Vasily Popov.

This is such a tactics of conducting an elected campaign - neutralization of everyone who can pose a danger to you

Galina Shirshina: Now I understand that this is such a tactics of conducting an elected campaign - neutralization of everyone who can pose a danger to you. And given the statement of Vasily Popov that while he is at large, the head of the republic, Alexander Khudilainen, is not shining, we can assume that they were frightened there. Vasily Popov is a leader of a large number of residents of Petrozavodsk, today this cannot be recognized. He knows how to unite people, and for the city, in my opinion, he did nothing bad, only good.

В случае, если глава Республики Карелия будет пытаться продлевать свои полномочия, у партии «Яблоко» неизбежно возникнет к нему множество вопросов экономического характера, на которые ему придется отвечать. Впрочем, по наблюдениям депутата Эмилии Слабуновой , эти вопросы возникли уже давно:

Эмилия Слабунова: О чем говорил Владимир Путин с Александром Худилайненом на последней встрече, нам доподлинно не известно. Из той официальной информации, которая была нам предоставлена, стало известно, что, например, Александр Худилайнен отчитался о том, что судостроительный завод, который был ранее захвачен рейдерами, якобы возвращен государству. It was news for us. Я обратилась к председателю Комитета по госимуществу правительства республики за комментариями по поводу того, как мог этот выкуп государством пройти мимо Законодательного собрания Республики Карелия. Ведь, там - огромные средства. На это я получила ответ, что председатель Комитета по госимуществу сам узнал об этом из СМИ.

Митинг в Петрозаводске

Судя по отчетам Контрольно-счетной палаты, масса вопросов у нас возникает к госкорпорации «Развитие», которая проедает бюджетные деньги, к санаторию «Марциальные воды», в котором нет даже бухгалтерской отчетности, к ОАО «Кондопога». Сейчас подвели под банкротство предприятие «Карельская геологическая экспедиция». And there are many such examples.

Вопросов к главе Республики Карелия Александру Худилайнену у партии «Яблоко» накопилось действительно много. 2 апреля у здания правительства республики на пикет с требованием изменить меру пресечения Ольге Залецкой и Александре Корниловой собрались около тысячи человек. Через четыре дня, 6 апреля женщины были выпущены на свободу и помещены под домашний арест.

Республика Карелия бурлит.