Is Journalism Worth Dying For__ Final Dispatches - Anna Politkovskaya [156]
Our readers may legitimately be wondering what Novaya gazeta was doing in France when there is more than enough to report on in Russia. Our intention was simple: it has not been at all clear what President Putin’s ideas are for ending the Second Chechen War so we decided to try to find out by asking some of the European leaders with whom Putin, by virtue of his office, has close working relationships. In favor of France was the fact that the intellectuals and politicians here, including Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, have traditionally been more radical on the Chechen issue than the elite of other countries. They have emphatically opposed the war, and helped large numbers of Chechen refugees to settle in France.
After negotiations with his Press Office, Novaya gazeta was granted a day when, in the course of a visit to Lorient, a provincial fishing village on the Atlantic coast, M. Lionel Jospin, Prime Minister of France, would reply to questions we had submitted in advance. The quid pro quo was that we would publish an article about his election campaigning in Lorient. We thought that was fair enough.
All election campaigns are as alike as die-cast nuts coming off a conveyor belt. As in Russia, so in France there is The Candidate, his gaze wandering above the heads of The People. He is weary and, of course, preoccupied with affairs of state. He pretends to understand everything he is told. On the other side, The People, wearing new work clothes and clean helmets specially issued by their superiors in honor of this visit from the metropolis. There is also the clicking and flashing of the press, and a full turnout from the Mayor’s Office.
Everything proceeded according to plan in the port of Lorient, which M. Jospin visited first. He was shown a new fishing boat in dry dock, nodded silently in time with the explanations, shook the hand of a young engineer in the front row of The People, and in a practised manner took up his position for a commemorative photograph with the Mayor. Then it was our turn. The Press Office whispered in our ear, “Keep strictly to the questions!”
“Prime Minister, what do you think about the anti-terrorist operation in Russia, the war in Chechnya? About the massive violation of human rights? Have you talked to President Putin about ending it? About deadlines?”
The Prime Minister of France was clearly taken aback. A puzzled silence hung in the air until the emotionless gaze from behind his spectacles became tetchy. What was all this about?
“Oh no, not that. Lord, that’s all we need,” Jospin said, looking at the crowds surrounding him.
“But why haven’t you?”
“Why are you asking me about these things in Lorient?”
“I am a journalist from Russia, and I was invited here by your Press Office specifically to ask you about these things.”
Jospin is aghast. His press attaché comes out in blotches.
“No, no, and again no. It’s all so complicated.”
“But Prime Minister, please tell us how relations between Jospin and Putin will differ from relations between Chirac and Putin if you do in fact become President. What could Russia expect from France in that event?”
“Oh these questions. Putin … Lord. Oh no, not that. Today I shall only be talking about the sea. Ask me something about the sea!”
“Why is he being so evasive?” I ask those witnessing this strange scene in some perplexity. “Is he afraid of Putin?”
They explain as best they can, journalists from the Prime Minister’s press pool, port engineers and workers. It has nothing to do with fear of Putin. It is just that one of the customs of contemporary French politicians is never to let themselves be pinned down. They express themselves in an opaque manner so that they cannot subsequently be held to account for what they have said. Lite politicians with easy European policies which commit them to nothing. General-purpose politics, nothing too specific.
Evidently