European Union Forums

[Faw_Peter]

Although he is not the president anymore, Putin, being the prime-minister of Russia, holds great power and plays essential part for the country. I support him, since he made the country prosper

[S.Sindjelich 2]

I support him,...US-NATO...njet in Kosovo...

[Nicholas]

Putin is the first president, that Rusiia must be proud of

[S.Sindjelich 2]

Nicholas, nothing wrong with it, I regret he let georgian...to bark free against Russia.

[M.Helen]

Actually after Medvedev was elected, he and Putin simply made a barter - Putin became the Prime-Minister and Medvedev the president. However this is not the only "barter" made - earlier, Medvedev used to be the head of Gaz-Prom board, now Putin holds this position.

[Benn]

My position says that, as long as a man is supported and promoted by his nation, it's not by chance. Each nation in the world has its features and its preferences. If Russians chose Putin and Medvedev to rule their country, this choice is the right one.

[willyoumind]

Instead of a wise Russia President, Putin also an aminal lover.

I was amazed when he putted the satnav tracker collar around his dog's neck

[Terry]

Instead of a wise Russia President, Putin also an aminal lover.

I was amazed when he putted the satnav tracker collar around his dog's neck

yeah I saw that news as well. That system was new for Russia, and it was firstly tested on his dogs, allegedly that if they get lost, they can easily be found with the help of this system.
It's symbolic of course. Can you imagine his dogs to run away from him
They will be shot for that

[Aphrodite]

My son met a couple of Russians who spent their vacation in Greece last year ,became friends with them and took up on their offer to visit St Petersberg.He tells me Russians are absolutely in love with Putin.
And why not really? When was the last time Russians had a chance in democracy?

[M.Helen]

My son met a couple of Russians who spent their vacation in Greece last year ,became friends with them and took up on their offer to visit St Petersberg.He tells me Russians are absolutely in love with Putin.
And why not really? When was the last time Russians had a chance in democracy?

Probably you are right, and that's the point. A country can't end so quickly the transition period from socialism to capitalism. True, never was Russia so democratic as it is with Putin. The president before Putin has brought the country to a total crisis, while the first saved it.

[Aphrodite]

I think we expect too much too soon from a country that has just been awaken.
Give them time.
Some trust in them wouldn't hurt either ,although I guess it would be probably asking too much from the former East Block countries ..
I suppose some European countries are too old while some others still too young in certain aspects..

[Steven]

well we should judge that after the history. When we're saying "a young state" we first of all mean its political borders. But let's not forget that the majority of the European states had a long and respectful history, which created the nations' conceptions etc.

[Aphrodite]

By "old and young in certain aspects " I meant as in democracy,not borders.Maybe I wasn't clear enough.

Nontheless I agree with you..Many would argue though that we (the collective we) should forget about history and move on to our -yet to be revealed-future.

[M.Helen]

Smart people always advice others to think about the future, not about the past. When you live with the past, you get the same routine results, nothing new. It's like complaining about something that hasn't worked out. Does it help you? Certainly no, why are then doing it?

[Aphrodite]

Living in the past is one thing..Forgetting the past (ie history) is another.
I say remember the mistakes of the past so that you won't repeat them in the future.

[Aeneas]

Living in the past is one thing..Forgetting the past (ie history) is another.
I say remember the mistakes of the past so that you won't repeat them in the future.

If only that were true. Lately, it seems to me that knowing the past makes some people more determined to repeat it but at escalated levels. For example, nobody can accuse the people of the Balkans of being ignorant of their history. We all know it very well. Is that helping in any way? It makes some of us more rabid than the ignorant ones.

[Aphrodite]

Do we? Do we know it really?

I seriously doubt it ..and I will not discuss about the Balkans.

[Aeneas]

Okay, then the Flemings vs. the Walloons. They both know their history very well and they don't want to have anything to do w/ each other. But they are forced to share a country by external factors. The Irish Catholics and Gaelic Protestants of Northern Ireland. Boy do they ever know their history. How about the Chechens? They had forgotten their history for 75 years and were happy. Then they re-discovered it and we all know what happened.
===========================
So how about we just say this instead:
Like in a Greek tragedy, we are bound to repeat our actions (some would say mistakes) regardless of how well we know our history.

[Aphrodite]

So you suggest that the nations as a whole would be better off if they simply forgot their history?
That would certainly speed up the global uniformity procedures !
History is a subject that should be handled with extreme care.Some of us learn things at school that we have to unlearn later on as they turn out to be utter lies..
Columbus discovering that the Earth is round for instance, while the shape of the world has been pretty much settled since the orb theory was first proposed by the ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras, around 2,000 years before the existence of Spain.
Or the civil war in Greece fought by the Governmental forces and the Democratic Army of Greece who had been tricked into believing theirs was a struggle for liberation although it had been nothing but part of the so called Churchill-Stalin percentages agreement.

How easy can it be,to unlearn what you thought was true?

[Aeneas]

Not at all.... I'm not suggesting ignorance of history. Ignorance is NOT bliss. I'm saying that ... it's like a Greek tragedy. A lot like Cassandra ... we know what's going to happen, just cannot do much about it. I guess it comes from being "orientalists"... "fatalists" and the other labels given to us (including Orthodox).

[Aphrodite]

Can't or won't ?
You make it sound like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[Newrussian town]

Pushkin said-" I don't like my country, but I would be very harmed if the foreigner would share my point of view". Putin is the great man, but even if he wasn't, he would be.

[M.Helen]

Pushkin said-" I don't like my country, but I would be very harmed if the foreigner would share my point of view". Putin is the great man, but even if he wasn't, he would be.

I think Pushkin rather liked his country than hated it. Every man has something negative to say about his country. Pushkin was not an exception. There are also many things why I like my country or hate it.

[Riser]

It's not essential that Putin is not the official President. Everybody knows this person is the real head of the country, so all the main decisions represent a part of Putin's program of redressing Russian economy. Nowadays we see that Mr. Putin and his team got a powerful strategy- to organize and improve a plan and then to realize personal control of it, in prime-minister position.