Marketing Russia’s brand is a hard sell

Date: 23/02/06

The war in Chechnya, Russia's attempt to influence the countries in its 'near abroad' and the clampdown on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) all have the EU asking if the new Russian political class - President Vladimir Putin and the Silovik, or former military and intelligence agents who surround him - are any better than Boris Yeltsin's robber baron rule.

Media across Europe daily question the democratic credentials of Putin and of modern Russia.

There are signs that the gap between Russia and the rest of Europe is not only widening but is growing to include Russia's citizens as well as her politicians, helped by polls such as those which recently showed that young Russians hold ambivalent or even positive views about Stalin.

In a 2005 BBC-commissioned poll which was conducted across 22 countries, an average of 40% of respondents saw Russia's role in the world as negative.

In the Anholt Nation Brands Index, which attempts to measure the relative strength of nation brands, Russia is viewed poorly by almost every country surveyed.

In Germany, France and the UK, Russia is seen as having a worse brand than China, despite widespread admiration for Russian culture in these countries.

According to Alain Deletroz of the International Crisis Group, politicians in the EU and Russia hold much of the blame.

"We have a bunch of politicians who are making their own political living from [bashing Russia]. It is good to go to Strasbourg and to be seen to bash Russia in certain countries. And from the Russian side it is good to be in Strasbourg bashing the EU in the evening on Russian television," he said.

"We have a perception in the EU now, and Mr Putin is not doing anything to destroy this perception, that Russia seems very nervous to see democratic regimes flourishing in its sphere of influence," he added.

According to Salome Samadashvili, Georgia's ambassador to the EU, Russia's antiquated attitude towards its neighbours has served only to increase negative attitudes towards Russia.

So should the Kremlin be worried that a new generation of Europeans is seeing Russia once again as the 'evil empire' so famously described by the then US president Ronald Reagan?

No, said Vladimir Chizhov, Russia's Ambassador to the EU, who worries more about negative perceptions in Baltic and other states spreading to the rest of Europe.

"[This image] is cultivated by an unfortunately large group of people who used to call themselves Sovietologists in the West," Chizhov said.

"I hope the new generation of people in the Baltic states will not suffer from what I call phantom pains related to our recent common history within the Soviet Union."

Yet Russians are also critical of their own brand. According to Anholt, Russians rank themselves top in the world for tourism, culture, people, investment and immigration climate, but last out of 25 for governance.

According to a poll by the Moscow-based Public Opinion Foundation, 48% of Russians said that Russia should seek EU membership.

According to Chizhov, there is no contradiction. Views of Russia depend on the question of "whether Russia is still in the process of transition 15 years after the end of the Soviet Union or whether that phase is behind Russia", he said.

"I think that is the key question that determines the way people look at all these different elements."

Author takes a look at Russia's image in media and public opinion across Europe.
Article is part of a European Voice Special Report, 'EU-Russia'.

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