Five years ago, then-President Vladimir Putin spent a ton of money on the May 9 parade. He blocked the roads in the center of Moscow, expelled all the homeless and other undesirable citizens and invited a host of Western leaders to serve as a backdrop to his personal Victory Day celebration. Everyone on his invitation list flew in for the event.
During this year’s parade, Russia went even further. More money was spent on the event, Red Square shook as S-400 mobile missile systems (that, by the way, do not actually exist) rolled past, and practically the entire Russian Air Force flew overhead. The world’s top leaders rained on Putin’s parade: They didn’t attend.
U.S. President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Conservative Party leader David Cameron, and even Putin’s best friend, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, stayed home. Of course, the leaders of Germany and China — the two major powers most dependent on Russia’s raw material exports — had no choice but to attend.
Israeli President Shimon Peres also attended because for Jews the victory over Adolf Hitler is truly sacred.
Acting Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski arrived but was rudely rebuffed. Amid a? swarm of photographers, President Dmitry Medvedev solemnly handed Komorowski 67 volumes of archival material concerning the Katyn massacre. Medvedev did this to pretend that it was a tremendous act of good will, concealing the fact that the archives had already been released to the public a long time ago. Medvedev would have done a lot more to improve Russian-Polish relations if he had presented Komorowski with a gift-wrapped copy of “Eugene Onegin.”
Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko’s visit turned out to be just window dressing. After flying in on May 8 to attend an informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States, he used the occasion to proclaim that Russia and Belarus are eternal Slavic brothers. Nonetheless, Lukashenko did not bother to stick around for the grand parade the next day. Even the Kremlin’s newly acquired strategic ally,? Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, ditched the event. It seems that the Kremlin’s $40 billion gas discount wasn’t enough to lure him to attend.
Lukashenko’s behavior is a good illustration of how unpredictable dictators can be as they switch their foreign policy stances at the drop of a hat. For example, Lukashenko only days ago fired a volley of insults at Russia over the Kremlin’s supposed role in the Kyrgyz revolution last month. But the next day, Lukashenko switched gears as he came to Russia with all smiles and chastised the West.
Chinese leader Hu Jintao did attend the parade. Despite the large gulf separating China and Belarus, they have one thing in common: The leaders of both states don’t need to answer to their citizens. If Putin invited them, why not come? They don’t have to explain their decision in any case to their people. Western leaders decided not to come. After all, they would face serious questions from critics questioning the wisdom of accepting Putin’s offer.
So, the Kremlin’s holiday was a complete embarrassment. It is like a five-star general who spent a fortune on a lavish birthday bash for himself at a fancy restaurant — only to be disappointed when most of his friends and relatives did not attend. But a couple of guys did show up — the kind who would never turn down an opportunity to wine and dine at someone else’s expense.
Yulia Latynina hosts a political talk show on Ekho Moskvy radio.