The Duma against the West

The Russian parliament is studying responses to Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine. At stake are measures against the ownership of foreign firms and foreign media. Surrogacy is also in the spotlight. The Russian deputies' "war" against the country's enemies has more symbolic than practical value: Putin decides everything.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - The State Duma, the Russian parliament, has met to identify responses to the offences, sanctions and threats of the West, the real great enemy that has "forced" the Russian armies to invade Ukraine. The MPs' proposals are characterised by radicalism to the point of eccentricity, and are rarely taken into consideration by the presidency or the government, which merely nods in approval for propaganda of dubious effectiveness.

The parties are competing to show themselves resolute against their global adversaries, and standing out above them all are the communists of the Kprf, who from the very beginning of the military operation have spoken of an 'indispensable transition to a mobilisation economy' and also of 'a new structure for governing the country'. A communist deputy, Nikolai Kolomejtsev, intervened, saying that 'I admit I am afraid for Russia, they are attacking us from all sides, freezing our capital and nationalising our companies, and we are sitting here shaking, doing nothing'.

The communists, true to their tradition, express their opposition to the 'sacred private property' which prevents the requisitioning of all foreign property in Russia. The rapporteur of the counter-sanctions bill, Anatolij Vybornyj of the Putinist 'United Russia', explained that the Russian authorities are 'not like them', like Western countries, and intend to deal with companies leaving Russia 'in an honest and civilised manner'.

Foreigners will be able to return to Russia within three years if there is room left for their business and 'they will not make mistakes in administration through incompetence', as they will be granted the right to 'administer from outside' their properties in Russia. The main purpose of this rule is the preservation of current jobs, but also to control the actions of Westerners in order to avoid 'possible sabotage by companies that express open hostility towards Russia', as noted by MP Sergey Gavrilov.

Much more serious measures will be taken against Western media accredited in Russia, towards which the Russian response will be paralleled by the blocking of Russian publications in various countries. Publishing houses will be deprived of their licences, journalists of their accreditation, and certain regulations make it easier for the government or the Prosecutor General's Office to shut them down directly. The media project was presented by the liberal-nationalist Andrej Lugovoj, who explained that he wanted to avoid judicial disputes: 'First we close them, then we discuss them'.

Another answer debated in the Duma concerned surrogacy, for which the deputies shouted that 'we are fed up with our women being used as incubators for Western babies'. The bill on the matter was the first to be passed, with foreigners banned from accessing 'surrogacy' in Russia. This right will remain reserved only for couples in which at least one of the two would-be parents has Russian citizenship, as long as the couple consists of a man and a woman.

Single Russian women will also be able to access the external uterine service. "We want to stop the child trade altogether," explained deputy speaker Petr Tolstoy, according to whom "it is high time to get rid of this part of our integration with Western norms and rules". Another deputy speaker, Vitalij Milonov, pointed out that surrogacy is already banned in many European countries and is 'an attribute of the Third World'.

During the debate, several deputies also proposed abolishing the right to abortion altogether, but on this point Tolstoy himself warned that 'these things must be done gradually and very cautiously', Russia being one of the countries with the highest percentage of abortions in the world. The parliamentary euphoria of the 'war on the West' is however far from over, and is trying to send out symbolic and value signals, but it will have to be seen whether it will really reach the economic and financial sectors.