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Yabloko leader slams political decisions in 2004

MOSCOW. Jan 3 (Interfax) - Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky said Russia has not scored successes either in its domestic or foreign policy in 2004. "From a political standpoint, Russia is becoming less free. Abolishing gubernatorial elections, making the dissolution of regional legislative assemblies possible, the start of a campaign aimed at liquidating local governments, manipulating elections and distorting their results, and arbitrariness on the part of law enforcement agencies are creating an atmosphere of uncertainty and fear," Yavlinsky told Interfax. In 2004, Russia's foreign policy "suffered from imperial" ambitions "that are absolutely unacceptable for Russia in the 21st century," he said. "The Russian authorities confused their domestic policy with foreign policy, which did not take long to take its toll," the party leader said. "That is why, regardless of how the situation in Ukraine, Georgia and [the breakaway province of] Abkhazia is going to evolve, the peoples of these countries will remember this pressure on the part of the Russian authorities, intrigues, smear campaigns, and the unseemly role of Russian state-owned media groups at the most difficult period for our neighbors for a long time," he said. The full version of Yavlinsky's interview will be posted on the www.interfax.ru website.