RUSSIAN SPECIALNESS
In Russia, the Constitutional Court’s ruling ordering President Yeltsin to sign the ill-famed restitution law (Yeltsin had refused, saying that his veto was overridden in the absence of the required quorum, and that when voting some of the Solons pressed the buttons, voting for their absent colleagues; the Court decided that the President had no business interfering in Parliament’s rules) was first received as a political event. Now he would have to sign Parliament-approved laws enhancing the Federal Assembly’s influence on domestic matters. To this author, the situation looked a bit silly. Evidently, Mr. Yeltsin did not want to sign a law, whereby all valuables transferred to Russia after World War II would stay there, not because deputies were running in the audience (quite a typical behavior when deliberating a bill, and not only in Russia!). Most likely, he realized that this law would damage Russia’s international image. After all, how could one sign international treaties and join various conventions with one hand and transgress these very instruments with the other? But why did the Russian deputies fail to see this? The Communists? Fine. All most of them know about culture is the Lenin Mausoleum, so Trojan gold, the bone of discord, meant nothing to them and they simply adhered to the good old Russian maxim: we have it and we aren’t going to give it back to anybody, even if it really isn’t ours, territory and property included. This applies both to State Duma members and regional chiefs. What made them contest Yeltsin’s veto? They are so fond of traveling abroad, riding in limousines with small Russian flags fluttering in the wind. Many of them are vitally interested in maintaining good relations with Germany.
Perhaps the key reason is their mentality, the way they understand the law in post-Soviet society. Of course, everybody must abide the law - that is, everyone else, not the elite. To them, joining the Council of Europe and honoring one’s commitments (like outlawing capital punishment) are different stories. After all, people in the West must realize that Russians are like that, and there’s no use trying to change them. Probably. But then why bother joining the Council of Europe? Why not delay such an important decision?
I remember when a Kyiv newspaper accused me of not being patriotic enough. I tried to convince my readers that we should pay Russia for energy supplies, while our esteemed Premier (Leonid Kuchma, of course) was doing his utmost to convince the Russians that we were buddies, and who talks about paying among friends? At that time I did not ask my opponent how he would react to a debtor who came with assurances of love instead of money. However, I am convinced that true patriotism is when one wants one’s country to be like oneself. I mean if I pay my debts I want my country to do the same. And vice versa. Corrupt countries breed corrupt people.
The same is true of the law which they want Mr. Yeltsin to sign. Those who worked it out would not mind having their literary heritage back. Remember the enthusiasm with which they met German President’s information that they would be returned fragments of the famous Amber Room? But when it comes to parting with things rightfully not their own, they will press any buttons available. Such is their perception of the law, something hardly likely to win them international respect. In the civilized world people are very different, but no one is special when it comes to acting as provided by law.
