Human Rights International

Germany and Russia – the Boris Nemtsov Forum

Boris Nemtsov, a politician who opposed Vladimir Putin’s rule and who fought for a free Russia, was shot dead on 27 February 2015 in the centre of Moscow, in view of the Kremlin.The case raises questions to this day. His birthday (9 October) isno longer  a reason to celebrate. It has, however, become a fixed date for the Russian opposition: since 2016, male and female activists, human rights campaigners and politicians from Russia and the EU have come together from 9–10 October every year for the Boris Nemtsov Forum.The Forum is organised by the FriedrichNaumann Foundation for Freedom and the Boris Nemtsov Foundation, with the support of the European Endowment for Democracy. It serves as a platform for discussion and innovation focusing on Russia’s present and future. In addition, the FNF supports the annual Boris Nemtsov Prize, an individual award bestowed in recognition of outstanding engagement in the fight for freedom of expression and a free and open Russia. Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger,the Vice Chairperson of the Foundation for Freedom, is also a member of the Boris Nemtsov Foundation’s council and thus forms an important link to Russian liberals.

“My father was associated with the future. That is why the forum deals with the future,” said Zhanna Nemtsova, Nemtsov’s daughter, as part of her opening remarks at the Boris Nemtsov Forum in Berlin in October 2017. Although it was important to discuss Putin and his politics, she added, this didn’t help move Russia forward.Under the banner “Politics without Vision?Future Lab on Russia  and the EU”, civil society representatives from the arts, culture, science and business met to discuss their visions for a post-Putin Russia. In his opening address, former Federal Minister of the Interior Gerhart Baum pleaded for a relationship to Russia defined by
“dialogue and openness”. However, in her speech, the author Alisa Ganieva highlighted how difficult it would be to communicate these visions in Russia, saying that Russian civilisation had become deaf and dumb. Large parts of the population were trying to justify injustice, thereby feeding the doubters who were already under the sway ofthe Kremlin’s disinformation and propaganda.

In 2018, the Forum was hosted for the first time in the Czech capital of Prague, under the banner “Russia: Strategies for Society”. Guy Verhofstadt, chairman of the ALDE group in the European parliament, took on the difficult task of analysing the EU’s political stance towards Russia. In doing so, he spoke for a tougher approach towards the Kremlin. However, he emphasised that “the Russian populace must know that this strategy is not aimed at the country, but only at the Russian government”.
After the speech, the participants used Verhofstadt’s ideas as a starting point to discuss civil, economic and political developments, both foreign and domestic, in small working groups.