Once again, the president's open news conference has been held on the eve of the G-8 summit. This time, however, Vladimir Putin used it as an opportunity to sum up his two years in office from the political perspective. That is why the questions journalists asked covered a broad range of issues. At the same time, the news conference revealed what was probably the main subject: Boris Yeltsin, the first president of Russia. Putin had not expected this to happen, that much is clear.
Media interest was not restricted to Putin's reaction to the political activity of his predecessor, nor to Yeltsin's public criticism of negotiations with President Alexander Lukashenko over the future Russia-Belarus Union (Yeltsin said they had reached a dead end). Journalists wanted Putin's opinion of Yeltsin's statement that his ideas about freedom of the press differed from those of Putin. Journalists also wanted to know whether what the government is doing now amounts to a process of doing away with what Yeltsin achieved. It was as though journalists were comparing two presidents - this could be sensed in their tone - and coming up with a conclusion in Yeltsin's favor.
Putin must have sensed it too. He repeated: "Yeltsin is a free individual who can move about, meet with anyone, and express his opinion."
"That is all right," Putin said. "We respect his opinion." However, he added: "I have my own opinion, and I will do what I think is best for Russia now and in future."
The president declared that the current agenda and policy was not in fact a negation of the course pursued by his predecessor. "On the contrary," Putin said, "we continue to develop the nation on the basis of what was achieved by the previous political leadership under the first president of Russia, Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin." However, Putin emphasized that he and Yeltsin "disagreed on Russia's present and future" and illustrated this with a reference to the music chosen for Russia's national anthem: the same music used for the anthem of the Soviet Union. Had Yeltsin remained president, that music would never have become part of a state symbol. As far as freedom of the press is concerned, Putin said he is sure that his views on the subject coincide with Yeltsin's - both advocate financial independence for the media. (It should be noted here that Yeltsin always supported freedom of the press as such, without references to finances.) When asked about Yeltsin's criticism of his handling of the Russia-Belarus Union, Putin shrugged and said it would have wrong for him "to cause a fuss over something like that."
It was no coincidence at all that Yeltsin was mentioned at this news conference. Some foreign analysts and observers say that Yeltsin has been making every effort to remind Russia and the rest of the world of his existence. According to El Pais, "it is nostalgia for power that forces Yeltsin to be publicly active. He is trying to use Belarus as a stepping-stone for his return to politics. His immediate aim is to become head of the Russia-Belarus Union, which currently exists only on paper." El Pais considers that Yeltsin the politician is probably regretting that he decided to step down on December 31, 1999, and wants to be back in the driver's seat. El Pais comments that Putin must heartily dislike Yeltsin's attempts to represent Prime Minister Mikhail Kasianov as a potential candidate for president in 2004. Yeltsin is not a significant political rival as far as Putin himself is concerned, but the president cannot help being worried by his predecessor's criticism.
Actually, Putin did display his attitude toward Yeltsin at the news conference yesterday. This is how he concluded his statement on that topic: "Yeltsin is a great man and an experienced politician. He has his own opinion, and expresses it. We appreciate that. We will bear it in mind."