On April 6 this year Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, member of the Russian State Duma, Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma (2000-2011), passed away.
In Latvia, it is customary for journalists who have met and interviewed global or local celebrities to write in memoriam articles when the celebrity in question passes away. I have met Vladimir Zhirinovsky several times. I have his autographed books on my bookshelf. And my interview with Vladimir Zhirinovsky, which was published in Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze newspaper in January 2010, caused an international scandal. On January 16, 2010, the Azerbaijani Embassy in Russia (on behalf of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs) sent a note of protest to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs against the statements made by Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Vice-President of the Russian State Duma, in the Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze newspaper, in which he said: "If Nagorno-Karabakh declares its independence, I think that Russia should recognize it."
The fact that an interview with a Russian politician published in a Latvian newspaper had such consequences was a remarkable event. My colleagues regarded it as the highest accolade in journalism, that it was a rare feat. On the other hand, however, the interview, which was already published in the newspaper Neatkarīgā in January 2010, largely exposed Russia's imperial plans, which Vladimir Putin began to implement in 2014 and which became vividly apparent in 2022, when Russia launched its war against Ukraine.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky has always positioned himself as a populist and an active supporter of the restoration of the Russian empire. In 1991, he ran against Boris Yeltsin in the Russian presidential elections. Vladimir Zhirinovsky promised in his campaign meetings and rallies what the voters wanted to hear. He promised to reduce the price of vodka for the Siberian loggers and claimed that he would get an amendment to the Russian constitution to add an article establishing the "right to vodka rations" (there were major problems in obtaining alcoholic beverages at that time). Speaking at a meeting of kindergarten teachers, he promised to include a new article in the Russian Constitution, which would state that every woman would have the right to one man (this is not a joke). He promised those who dreamed of the restoration of the Russian Empire that, after his election as President of Russia, very soon Russian soldiers could "wash their boots in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean", and so on. My first contact with the impact this kind of populism has on the minds of Russian voters was in the summer of 1991, when, as a journalist for the newspaper Atmoda, I went with the photographer Ints Kalniņš to Abrene (Pytalovo) to report on the mood of the population of this part of Latvia that had been deprived of its independence regarding the proposal to unite Latvia.
In the summer of 1991, presidential elections were held in Russia, and Boris Yeltsin won. At the same time as the presidential elections, a referendum was held in the Pskov region's Pytalovo (Abrene) district on whether to belong to Latvia or Russia. 98% of the population voted to remain part of Russia. The purpose of my trip was to see whether the choice of the Abrene Latvians and local Russians had not been falsified. We visited the Latvian villages (there were still Latvian villages at that time) - Kacēni (Kochanovo), etc. - and asked the local Latvians how they voted in Latvian. Absolutely everyone we spoke to said they voted to stay in Russia. Almost all of them had a very similar motive: "If we voted for reunification with Latvia, we were worried that it would lead to war, but we don't want war."
The biggest shock, however, was that the majority of Abrene Latvians voted for Vladimir Zhirinovsky instead of the Democrat Boris Yeltsin in the Russian presidential elections. To my puzzled questions about this choice, the most typical answer was: "Russia has had all kinds of leaders, but never one like this. Let him try!"
When Vladimir Putin came to power, Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democrats became a fictional opposition. On the one hand, they formally distanced themselves from Putin's United Russia, but on many issues, they expressed much more radical ideas on the restoration of the Russian empire than the pro-Putin party.
However, age is not a gift, so in recent years Vladimir Zhirinovsky's energy waned, and on April 6 this year he passed away.
Here you can read some of Vladimir Zhirinovsky's remarks in an interview with Neatkarīgā in January 2010.
How do you assess the prospects for development between Latvia and Russia?
About Latvia. We did not fight with Latvia. We fought with Sweden. Latvia and Estonia were part of Sweden. Lithuania had its own statehood. Historically, we signed a peace treaty with Sweden in 1721, and these lands were given to us by Sweden as compensation for our loss in the war.
As far as Latvia is concerned, of course, we have to take into account the mistakes made during the USSR period, when people were moved to distant lands. I once lived in Almaty (Kazakhstan) and my neighbor was a Latvian woman called Riekstiņa, who had two daughters, one called Elza, the other I cannot remember the name of. Yes! People were offended. But it was the Soviet regime, not the Russians. However, the passions will gradually subside. A good friend of mine lives in Latvia. In Soviet times, I was on a tram and someone hissed behind me: "Occupiers!" How are we the occupiers? There was a war. There was a world war, and the USSR had the right to conquer any territory that was occupied by the enemy. Even if Latvia had been independent at the time and had not been part of the USSR, we would have had the right to bring our troops in. We had the right to bring our troops in wherever the German army was. The USSR had the right to punish the aggressor. Punish all the aggressor's supporters. We had the right to take troops as far as the English Channel, even into Britain, because all countries were provoking Germany to invade the USSR. If it had been Peter the Great instead of Stalin who had ruled during the Second World War, we would have occupied the whole of Europe and we would have had the right to do so.
Of course, it was not good that the Soviet regime was imposed, but it was imposed everywhere. It would not be normal to have one regime in one place in a country and another regime in another place. I agree that the USSR regime had its shortcomings.
On Nagorno-Karabakh, Georgia and Palestine-Israel
If Nagorno-Karabakh declares its own independence, I think that Russia should recognize it. I am neither for the Armenians nor for the Azerbaijanis, but they will never be able to agree on Nagorno-Karabakh. Likewise, the Georgians will not be able to reach an agreement with the Abkhazians. The Arabs will not be able to agree with the Jews. They will never be able to negotiate! The Kurds and the Turks will never be able to agree!
On Moldova and Transnistria
"In Moldova, there is another problem. All the right-wingers are pro-Romania. As soon as they push the country towards joining Romania, nationalist tendencies will start, which will create support in the Communist Party, and there will be instability. Under these circumstances, Transnistria will never be part of Moldova. Moreover, 200,000 Moldovans have Romanian passports. That is a huge support. That is strength. It is reminiscent of Russian policy in Abkhazia and Ossetia, where almost everyone has a Russian passport. Now we can say that we are defending our citizens. Romania will be able to say the same. Even by bringing in troops. If that happens, Transnistria will come to aid. Transnistria is just waiting for this moment to add Chișinău to Tiraspol."
What is your assessment of Russia's policy in Central Asia and in Tajikistan in particular?
"As soon as the Americans leave Afghanistan, and they will leave because in time they will get tired of burying their sons, the Taliban will not lay down their arms, the war will continue. Then the Taliban will have a real chance to move into Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It is then that Russia will be able to realize its political vector because these countries will ask Russia for help. That is when we will set the terms. American Afghanistan policy is designed on the assumption that Turkmenistan will influence the Turkmens of Afghanistan, that Uzbekistan will influence the Uzbeks of Afghanistan and that Tajikistan will influence the Tajiks of Afghanistan. The opposite will happen. And there will be no Afghanistan, no Tajikistan, no Uzbekistan, but there will be a terrible war..."
With Vladimir Zhirinovsky's passing, one of the supposedly fictional oppositions to Vladimir Putin will also disappear.
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