Well, things sure went downhill quick between Russia and Holland unfortunately lately. I blame it mainly on the difference in the direction of development between the two countries. Holland is a open country to drugs, homosexuality and many environmentally friendly activist groups like greenpeace. Things became bad after President Putin visited Holland, where he got scolded for his no-go attitude towards homosexuality. Then arrests where made on the greenpeace ship to protect the environment. And just when things couldn't get worse, a Russian diplomat gets arrested for alleged child abuse. In my opinion its really a rather bizar gathering of events, to elaborate the situation beforehand we had like a perfect relationship with Russia, many Russian citizen live permenantly in Holland, many Russian tourists love buying jewelry in Amsterdam, and on a platonic level Dutch and Russian people get along just fine with each other, it went so good that i even came up to the point that i would love Russia to be part of the European Union, i was like , why not? (although many Russians weren't willing to go so far when i posted about it long time ago, which is just also fine with me (each to their own)) Unfortunately these events high-light the differences between the countries. In order for these events to become forgiven and forgotten a lot of constructive communication is needed between Holland and Russia to come to a consensus on these issues. I think personally Greenpeace goes too far when it comes to its activism, you know in Holland they sometimes climb up the Chimneys of Coal power plants and put protest logo's of the CO2 emission, we don't really throw them in prison for it, we unchain them and just send them home, they won't come back for quite a bit afterwards, and i hope Russia does the same. No one was really injured or endangered. When it comes to the anti homo sexuality movement in Russia, i really don't know much what to say, i don't know how many Russians agree with the current ideology. The incident with the Russian diplomat also raises eyebrows. Holland already apologized for the event, but in all seriousness the laws concerning diplomatic immunity are dinosaur policy at best. You can drive through red lights, you can kill someone, and beat up your wife every day without getting arrested. you know that area is a rich area with highly educated people,although its speculation. The reason why i suspect Borodin is because i doubt these kind of highly educated people would call the police for no reason. Although maybe he just suffers from angry neighbours but because of the commotion , maybe its better that Borodin gets replaced by someone else with a more clean reputation. Holland clearly broke the rules though, permission should have been asked first to Russia to lift the diplomatic immunity in order to investigate the allegations of child abuse. But on the other hand , the bureau of child care in Holland is a grotesque dragon of a institute , we have to admit that we are failing on several grounds, but Borodin's daughter lost a piece of hair, which might be caused by his child abuse. I hope we can sort this mess out.
Any agressive action is going to have a consequence. They were forewarned about it, yet they've violated Russia's teritorial waters (~500 meters out of oil rig), endangered lives of coast guards and now they'll face the consequences. Got to hate ecoterrorists. They've came to protest oil drilling on their nice ship. So what does it use as fuel? Solar energy or whales' farts? No? Fossil fuels? Don't they feel themselves like a bunch of hypocrites now? No, they are not. It is made on purpose of diplomats being sure they won't be thrown into jail on the basis of false accusation in order to cast them out of political games or ,you know, police breaking into diplomat's house, ignoring he might have secret data over there. Nevertheless, if a country have a problem with a diplomat it might declare him a persona non-grata. Or by the actions of police officers, according to Borodin. Whoever was responsible for it, I wouldn't expect Russian penitiary system cooperating with Nederlands on their citizens' destiny now.
A diplomatic dispute between Russia and the Netherlands flared up again after a break-in at the home of a Russian Embassy employee in The Hague. The Russian Foreign Ministry said today on its website that it expects the Dutch police to find the culprits, while the police in The Hague said yesterdays burglary appeared to be one of a series of similar crimes in the area. A high-ranking Dutch diplomat in Moscow was assaulted on Oct. 15 when two assailants entered his home, in what may have been a reprisal for the arrest of a Russian diplomat in The Hague 10 days earlier after neighbors complained about a domestic disturbance. Russia and the Netherlands have been at loggerheads since the Dutch government began international legal action to force the Russian authorities to release a Greenpeace ship and activists facing prison over an Arctic protest last month. The dispute has cast a shadow over a planned Dutch royal visit to Russia next month, We need to keep our heads cool and resolve the issues step by step, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told reporters in The Hague today. Im aware that the occurrences raise questions about the relationship with Russia in a broader context. Two Dutch citizens are among the 28 Greenpeace activists and two journalists in custody in the port city of Murmansk and their boat, Arctic Sunrise, is Dutch-registered. The Dutch authorities said Oct. 4 that they had started arbitration on the basis of the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea, a decision Greenpeace said it applauds. Dutch Apology Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans apologized last week for the Russian diplomats arrest, saying the envoys diplomatic immunity had been violated. He refused Russian requests to punish the police officers involved. The Dutch diplomats beating in Moscow led to the Russian ambassador in The Hague being summoned. The Russian Foreign Ministry said it condemned the incident, while reiterating its demand yesterday for measures against the Dutch police officers. The assault in Moscow had something to do with the Russian governments frustration at the way its diplomat was treated in the Netherlands, Masha Lipman, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said by telephone. Its deplorable that it got to this level of tit-for-tat. Timmermans was cited by the Dutch news agency ANP today as saying he assumes for now that the burglary had nothing to do with the diplomatic incidents. Even so, the break-in complicates matters, according to Timmermans, who said hes doing everything he can to resolve the impasse. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-...nited-as-embassy-employee-s-home-burgled.html
