The Media Mirror: what's in today's Russian newspapers?

Today’s Russian newspapers speculate on the results of the Serbian election, and write how Russia is losing the U.S. election.

ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA quotes Konstantin Kosachev, the Chairman of the International Relations Commission of the Russian Parliament: “Russia was right to remain neutral in the Serbian election, regarding Russia the two candidates’ programmes were very similar.”

NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA writes some Serbian democrats saw the role of Russia as “habitually sweet-and-sour”. They say Russia was playing both ends, so any harm to Russia’s interest was impossible in this election. The paper says in spite of his victory Boris Tadic will have to take into account the opinion of his opponent when forming government policies as it’s clear that roughly half of the electorate supports Nikolic. The paper adds that in the upcoming parliamentary election Tomislav Nikolic may have a strong chance to become Serbia’s next Prime Minister.

IZVESTIA writes higher educated people and urban dwellers supported Boris Tadic, while rural people and those who only have a high-school education voted for Tomislav Nikolic. The paper also says Tadic played the Russian card with more skill.

As for Kosovo, the paper says that independence may be proclaimed on one of the weekends of this month. The announcement would be made on a weekend to prevent Russia from convening the UN Security Council. By the following Monday independent Kosovo would be recognised by a score of governments. However after that Russia and China would effectively block its entrance into the UN and other international organisations.

KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA quotes Konstantin Zatulin, a State Duma member, who monitored the second round of the Serbian election: “I hope Russian-Serbian relations will stay friendly as they are. We have a positive experience in dealing with Tadic. The West is now trying to persuade the Serbs that by their election of Tadic they have chosen a straight path not just into the EU but into NATO as well. But Tadic never said that”.

Meanwhile, VREMYA NOVOSTEI says Russia is losing the U.S. election. The paper notes that every candidate with a chance of winning, whether Republican or Democrat has chosen a foreign policy advisor with a record of anti-Russian rhetoric. So, says the paper, the Super Tuesday may turn out to be a Black Tuesday as far as Russia’s interest is concerned.