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Russia Closes St. Petersburg University Monitoring Election
by
findingDulcinea Staff
On Feb. 8, Moscow shut down the European University at St. Petersburg, citing fire code violations. Professors and analysts detect a political motive.
30-Second Summary
The private university reopened on Friday after being closed for two weeks due to a “fire risk.”
In light of the March 2 presidential elections, however, academics and observers think the closure was a political move.
Duma Education Committee Deputy Chair Gadzhimet Safaraliyev filed a complaint last year alleging that a €673,000 ($997,960) EU grant to the university to train election monitors violated the institution’s charter.
According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the program was intended to improve the monitoring of Russian elections by educating party workers about election law.
One professor who spoke to the Chronicle on condition of anonymity said that in December he received threats from government officials to either cancel the program or risk having the university closed. The program was subsequently suspended on Jan. 31.
The university closure comes amid increasing international scrutiny of Kremlin policies. According to the British NGO Network for Education and Academic Rights, “While President Putin has frequently attacked Russia’s NGOs and human rights groups … he has until now largely ignored the higher education sector.”
An official university statement on the closure denied rumors that it had anything to do with the program, while also making a jab at the government: “Taking into account the level of predictability of the ‘elections’, it is strange, why to bother about poll watchers at all ... but ... current problems with the fire inspection has no attitude to this program and its closing.”
In light of the March 2 presidential elections, however, academics and observers think the closure was a political move.
Duma Education Committee Deputy Chair Gadzhimet Safaraliyev filed a complaint last year alleging that a €673,000 ($997,960) EU grant to the university to train election monitors violated the institution’s charter.
According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the program was intended to improve the monitoring of Russian elections by educating party workers about election law.
One professor who spoke to the Chronicle on condition of anonymity said that in December he received threats from government officials to either cancel the program or risk having the university closed. The program was subsequently suspended on Jan. 31.
The university closure comes amid increasing international scrutiny of Kremlin policies. According to the British NGO Network for Education and Academic Rights, “While President Putin has frequently attacked Russia’s NGOs and human rights groups … he has until now largely ignored the higher education sector.”
An official university statement on the closure denied rumors that it had anything to do with the program, while also making a jab at the government: “Taking into account the level of predictability of the ‘elections’, it is strange, why to bother about poll watchers at all ... but ... current problems with the fire inspection has no attitude to this program and its closing.”
Headline Links: Russian university closed, reopened
The European University at St. Petersburg had its operations suspended on Feb. 8. Russian officials said the university was a fire hazard, but academics believe the move was politically motivated. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the university “an agent of foreign meddling” because of an EU-sponsored program teaching how to run fair elections. Maxim Reznik, the leader of opposition party Yabloko, said of the closure, “We are observing a change in the political regime in Russia from authoritarianism to totalitarianism. What happened here is one example among many.”
Source: The Guardian
On Feb. 22, the university issued a press release saying that it had been cleared to continue its courses at alternative premises.
Source: European University of St. Petersburg
Background: Russia’s December elections
On Dec. 2, Putin’s United Russia party got 64.1 percent of the vote in a general election for the nation’s legislature—the Duma. The Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said the elections were “not fair.” Pro-Western parties garnered few votes.
Source: The West Australian
In St. Petersburg, United Russia won 50.3 percent of the vote, followed by Just Russia with 15.1 percent. Pensioner Alla Kosaryeva, 70, explained her vote to The St. Petersburg Times. “I have voted for United Russia because life has become better now under Putin, and we don’t want any other changes or revolutions,” Kosaryeva said. In contrast, Yelena, a 32-year-old manager who did not divulge her surname, voted for one of the opposition parties, saying, “The last straw in my negative attitude towards United Russia was its aggressive pre-election propaganda.”
Source: St. Petersburg Times
In November, the election-monitoring arm of the OSCE said its visa applications had been denied and, consequently, it would not be overseeing the Russian parliamentary elections. President Putin spoke out, claiming that the United States had pressured the organization to withdraw.
Source: findingDulcinea
Independent Russian newspaper Kommersant covered the international criticism of the Russian elections. The paper reported that observers judged that although polls were well organized, they “failed to meet many commitments and standards for democratic elections.”
Source: Kommersant
Reactions: University officials speak out
Grigory Golosov, a sociology and political science professor at the European University at St. Petersburg, said that the school was shut down because of the election-monitoring program. Another professor, who wished to remain nameless, agreed and said that a government official threatened in December that the university had either to terminate the project or it would be closed.
Source: Chronicle on Higher Education
Duma member Gadzhimet Safaraliyev, deputy head of the Duma’s Education Committee, filed claims in 2007 that the university had infringed on its charter by participating in politics. According to The Moscow Times, part of the €673,000 grant from the EU was allotted to training election monitors from opposition parties. The University rector, Nikolai Vakhtin, denied that the closings had anything to do with politics: "One can fantasize about this and come up with all sort of reasons, but the facts that I have do not bear out this explanation.”
Source: The Moscow Times
The European University at St. Petersburg issued an official statement on its Web site addressing the two theories as to why the university was closed, its location and politics. “EUSP occupies a building in the central part of the town. For years of its work the University has invested no inconsiderable sums of money in maintenance and repairs of the building … Now it is a cherry on the cake for realtors. As to the allegations about the university training election monitors, taking into account the level of predictability of the ‘elections’, it is strange, why to bother about poll watchers at all … But the administration of EUSP insists, that current problems with the fire inspection has no attitude to this program and its closing.”
Source: The European University at St. Petersburg
Opinion & Analysis: Ulterior motives
U.K.-based watchdog Network for Education and Academic Rights argues that the university closure marks a new avenue of censorship on the part of the Russian government. “While President Putin has frequently attacked Russia’s NGOs and human rights groups, accusing them of being traitors and spying for Western nations, he has until now largely ignored the higher education sector, allowing academics relative freedom and autonomy over teaching and research,” the group states.
Source: Network for Education and Academic Rights
Coffee Shop Philosophy, a blog written by an Oxford graduate student in political science, writes of the closure, “The Russian presidential elections are approaching: this is a difficult time for liberal, progressive-minded institutions working for fair election practices. The news speaks for itself.”
Source: Coffee Shop Philosophy
Jeff Weintraub, a political theorist who teaches at the University of Pennsylvania, said that in light of the trend towards authoritarianism seen in Russia, the European University at St. Petersburg “deserves the strongest possible international support from everyone committed to the principles of academic and intellectual freedom and the defense of political liberty.”
Source: Jeff Weintraub’s blog
Reference: European University at St. Petersburg
The European University at St. Petersburg is a private institution founded in 1994. Its Web site has information on its history, academic departments, course offerings and staff members in Russian and English.
Source: European University at St. Petersburg
Related Topics: ‘Putin Accused of Purging Opponents’
Critics believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is using Soviet-style purges to gain control of lucrative private business assets and to stifle dissent.
Source: findingDulcinea
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