Petersburg “Dialogues”: talking about Ukraine and Russia took place in spite of the threat – Home | Deutsche Welle

On May “Dialogues” project “Public Library” in St. Petersburg was to be held a meeting with Vladimir Pozner Ukrainian politician and journalist Mustafa Nye, but due to various circumstances of weather threats to the nationalists, both the speaker could not attend. Therefore, on the difficult relations between Russia and Ukraine and the polarization of Russian society on Saturday, May 30, interviewed the director Alexander Sokurov and editor of “Medusa” Galina Timchenko.

An hour before the start of the meeting hall was almost full. They came all sorts of people on the ground were the representatives of the neighboring diametrically opposing views: liberal democratic movement of “Spring”, members of the nationalist movement “People’s Cathedral”, members of the movement “Antimaydan” which, according to organizers, wrote for the project “Dialogues” denunciation the governor of the city. “We’re all here, and most importantly, we have come to try to talk,” – greeted the audience organizer Nikolai Solodnikov.

“We bring children into the world not for war”

In general, the room felt a tense atmosphere, the people shouted periodically from place their views on this or that question, immediately tied disputes with neighbors in the chairs. However, it should be noted that these were sincere attempts at dialogue and debate, not a provocation. Despite the threat to disrupt the event, in the hall there was only one person who raised placards with the words “Jabberwocky,” “hypocrites,” “Russian people burned in Odessa, and you?”.

Galina Timchenko

Since the speakers were appointed at the last moment, it turned out that they were no longer talking to each other and with the public. “We – not politicians, we – the people – the audience asked Galina Timchenko. -” We have become militarized and male-oriented society. Men expensive, look into the eyes of their wives. They gave birth to you these sons. Is at least one mother send her son to death? And if it so happens that the son died, he had to pay homage, not in secret to bury. This happens when politics enters into our lives. We, the mothers of these children bring into the world is not for war “.

Alexander Sokurov urged compatriots to understand that we have different states and Ukraine, and if we quarrel with all its neighbors, it will never live in peace “Ukraine – a young country, where inexperienced politicians, they just evolve, we need to recognize their statehood. Big country, Russia can not live in enmity, we are currently at no one we can rely on. After all, if something happens, no one will be next to us, as soon as our guys, the military will suffer and die. Even we do not know that they die. Pity though his warriors, pity the Russian army, that she lived a righteous way to correct the problem, she performed “.

Posner relied on fate

About that the dialogue will not take part Ukrainian politician and journalist Mustafa Nye, I learned just two days before the event. It happened after the organizers of the project “Dialogues”, director of the library, where the event was to be held, and Vladimir Pozner received telephone threats. “Every one of us is willing to take risks and” go to the end “in person, but we can not take responsibility for the life and health of everyone who comes to us in the opening of the library,” – commented the organizers of their decision. Instead, Ukrainian politician to speak with Posner on “hatred and the impossibility of dialogue” was Alexander Sokurov.

However, a couple of hours before the event, when many viewers have sent to the library on the Fontanka in time to take the place on the page organizers Facebook was reported that Vladimir Pozner has decided not to come.

The journalist reported that his flight was canceled, and the discharge of the phone is not possible to find ways to come to St. Petersburg. He also wrote that his speech would start with an apology to his Ukrainian counterpart, “I would apologize to Mustafa hire for what happened, for the intolerance and hatred, which are covered in today’s Russia, many among those who call themselves patriots. In actually, they did not patriots, their behavior, they only cause damage to the country, it is their actions are an illustration of how to represent the Russian foreign media “.

” The plane Vladimir Pozner not abolished, and was detained for an hour, he said that the fate against his arrival, turn off the phone and disappeared – commented organizer Nikolai Solodnikov. – In his page, he explained his decision. We look at this situation differently “.

The following dialog

Nicholas Solodnikov

” There is a feeling that we want to close, because the car has earned: various social movements as “Antimaydan” media that publish false information, in particular, that we Khodorkovsky funded project “Open Russia”, which is an absolute lie, – commented Nicholas DW Solodnikov. – , but the flywheel running, respectively, it is clear that the purpose of his or Close project or squeeze it out of the country “.

” Today, it was suggested a terrific idea: you need to negotiate even with the devil! Nayem inviting, we were guided by only one idea: let’s talk, listen to him “- said Zoya Chalova , director of the Library. Mayakovsky. According to her, over the past week she had to listen to the mass of threats: “It was something terrible, I never knew I was so nasty, nasty person tried to blow up Russian political calm. I do not know what the outcome of my life in this Library because written complaints to all bodies “.