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Frelih, Polina
4 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Russia pays off debts to Slovenia
As the last successor state to former Yugoslavia, Slovenia agreed on Tuesday to Russia's planned payback of its "clearing debts" - its obligations under the Yugoslav-Russian trade agreement. In addition to transferring money, Russia will also deliver a military ship to Slovenia. The daily Delo welcomes the agreement: "Slovenia always insisted on repayment in money, and this demand has in part been met. Russia always wanted to pay off its debts of 129 million dollars [about 98 million euros] with petroleum or gas, because it can easily sell this raw material on the world market. True, with the discharge of debts through military equipment Slovenia has less choice. The ship is too expensive, many observers say. But the story also has a positive side. After 20 years of exchanging goods, an anachronism from the days of socialism, now Slovenia has a clearly defined market relationship with Russia."
» full article (external link, Slovenian)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Economic Policy, » Slovenia, » Russia
Who does Sevastopol belong to?
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer's visit to Ukraine prompts the daily Delo to report on the dispute over Russia's Black Sea fleet which is based in Sevastopol. The city on the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea is celebrating the 225th anniversary of its founding. "Yushchenko [the Ukrainian president] suffered the greatest disappointment at the NATO summit in Bucharest last April. He had hoped to enter the MEP action plan together with Georgia; this constitutes the first step towards formal membership of NATO. NATO's new model student faces two major problems: the first is opposition to membership within Ukraine and then there is opposition from Russia. Russia's deputy prime minister Sergei Ivanov once again warned Ukraine: 'I am convinced that the number of Russian tourists on Crimea's beaches will go down. I very much doubt they will be replaced by tourists from the US, the UK and Germany.' Ivanov was playing the tourism card. 'I congratulate the residents of our heroic Sevastopol on the occasion of its jubilee', he added. Ukraine pricked up its ears at his use of the word 'our'."
» more information (external link, Slovenian)
More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Slovenia, » Ukraine, » Russia
Putin elected leader of the United Russia party
The daily's Russia correspondent Polina Frelih reports on the situation in Russia: "Putin decided against amending the constitution to allow him to serve a third term as president. He did this to avoid criticism from the West - but in a Russian way. To preserve his power and influence he chose a different approach which 'only' required changes to the statute of his United Russia party. These changes will allow him to be prime minister and leader of the party at the same time without being a member of the party. This is absurd. ... It's almost comparable with the situation back in the times of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. All the presidents of the Central Committee were also members of the Communist Party. Strictly speaking, back then you couldn't have a decent career if you weren't a member of the CPSU."
» full article (external link, Slovenian)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Russia
Farewell in Sochi
The newspaper's Moscow correspondent Polina Frehlih reviews the relationship between Bush and Putin: "On countless occasions, enthusiastic claims of friendship were exchanged. This began with their first meeting in Brdo pri Kranju back in 2001, when Bush famously said he had peered into Putin's soul. Despite the odd verbal attack, like when Putin compared Bush to Hitler, their relationship deepened. Soon the two presidents were meeting on almost friendly and informal terms. It's probably only owing to this personal aspect in US-Russian relations that the whole thing didn't escalate into a new Cold War. This fact alone is sufficient for the two to go down in history."
» full article (external link, Slovenian)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Russia, » U.S.
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