Social vulnerability of alcoholics in Russia
After the economic reforms in Russia, excessive alcohol consumption has become less noticeable. One of the reasons is the more responsible way of life under the conditions of market economy. There has been also another mechanism: different kinds of crime against the alcoholics aimed at expropriation of their apartments, houses or other property. Criminals often act in the interests of commercial structures acquiring immobile property. As a result, many alcoholics have become homeless. Such things happened also earlier; there follows an example from the 1970s. It is understandable that a 19-year-old boy would like to have his own apartment; and that his mother, divorcing her alcoholic husband, would like to secure an apartment for her son. So, a large apartment was exchanged for 2 smaller ones, one for the mother and grandmother, and another for the father and son. The father, uncle Nicolay, was a war veteran, but in the period 1941-44 he had been in German captivity, so he had no support from the veterans organizations. He was a good engineer but suffered of alcoholism, and the symptoms of a progressive dementia had become apparent during the last 3-4 years. Now and then Ivan told to me that he continuously talks with his father, during drinking binges and after them, about hopelessness of his condition, that dementia will only worsen; and that they have together come to the conclusion that a suicide would be the best solution. Then Ivan invited me to participate: uncle Nicolay agreed to commit suicide, and we will just help if necessary. We came in the evening, drank some vodka, and another bottle was left for the next morning. We consumed it in the morning with black coffee; uncle Nicolay told us that he had learned from Germans to do it this way. The bottle was finished; and Ivan said that it is time now, there was some confusion, but the sling was pas put on nonetheless. There was a hook in the wall in the corridor. I left the apartment first but saw through the door how Ivan pushed a stool from under his feet. Authorities treated the case as a suicide, and there wasn???t any trouble. Retrospectively, the case should be classified as an assisted suicide. This is just a run-on sentence of anecdotal information, but the topic is of great importance for Russia even today. The concluding point is that the state should take more care about chronic alcoholics including those suffering from alcohol-related dementia, because they are vulnerable members of society and can be abused in their families or expropriated by criminals. It should be also recommended to Russian authorities to investigate the cases, when chronic alcoholics were illegally deprived of their apartments, having thus become homeless, and to help these people to obtain lodging again.
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The Challenge in Europe
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It's not yet clear that everyone in Europe understands the gravity of this change. Speaking before the European Parliament this past fall, a senior European Commission official said that the EU needs to treat Russia "as it is," not as "we would wish it to be." That means recognizing that Russia now ranks 147th in the world in fighting corruption (according to Transparency International) and 141st in freedom of the press (according to Reporters Without Borders), and in 2008 was downgraded by Freedom House from "partially free" to "not free." In this Russia, neither the Parliament nor the president was elected in fair elections.
Despite all the rhetoric of its economic resurgence, this Russia's GDP is still just the size of Belgium's, the Netherlands' and Luxembourg's combined. While its economy may be small, however, this Russia is powerful in other ways, and neither the United States nor Europe is equipped to deal with it alone. Together, how-ever, we can make great progress. Europe can be effective when it chooses. The European Union's exemplary role in stopping the Russian-Georgian war was a major step forward. France's President Nicolas Sarkozy and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner showed that Europe is capable of decisive leadership.
Still, much more remains to be done. Countries like Ukraine and Georgia, which have embraced democracy—and whose relations with Russia have soured as a result—now need support from both Europe and the United States. So far such support has been less than effective. Brussels and Washington need to do better.
Of course, it will always be necessary to deal with authoritarian regimes. Europe and the United States have done so in the past, working together to address problems like terrorism and drug smuggling. The red line, however, must remain democracy and the rule of law. If we begin to compromise on these, if we accept the creation of what Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev has called a "zone of privileged interests" covering the democratic countries on Russia's borders, we will lose the gains of the past generation, a development no one can afford.
All the more reason, then, for the United States and Europe to restore their good relationship; only together can they remain critical bulwarks of democracy and the rule of law in a threatening world.
Ilves is the president of Estonia.
© 2008
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