Major prisoner swap: a success?
The largest prisoner exchange between Western states and Russia since the end of the Cold War took place last week. Russia and Belarus released 16 prisoners, including US journalist Evan Gershkovich, Russian human rights activist Oleg Orlov and opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza. Ten prisoners were handed over to Russia, including Vadim Krassikov, also known in Germany as the 'Tiergarten killer'.
Russia loses, Putin wins
Russian political scientist Abbas Gallyamov contemplates on Facebook what could come after the prisoner swap:
“A couple of dozen good people have left, a couple of dozen bad people have arrived. Russia is once again on the losing side. ... But Putin - unlike Russia - has won. He has made it clear to spies and murderers that he is like a father to them, so there is hope that they will be even more eager to serve him. The president has shown the bulk of Russians that he has not yet lost his final remnants of reasonableness and is still capable of well-calculated, rational actions. That is what they want to see.”
Belarusians left out in the cold
Clearly, human lives are not all assigned the same value, philosopher Gintautas Mažeikis comments in LRT:
“One person can be worth three, ten or a hundred others. An Israeli hostage is worth several dozen Palestinians, a Russian FSB agent is worth several democratic opposition leaders, public figures cost more than silent demonstrators, Americans and Russians are more valuable than Belarusians. ... If you are defended by a strong international organisation or political movement, your value increases. That is why Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation was able to free at least three members while the entire Belarusian opposition led by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was not able free a single member.”
At the expense of journalistic reporting
For Sydsvenskan the prisoner exchange came at a high price:
“In the end, the freedom of those innocently imprisoned in Russia weighed heavier. This is how liberal democracies that value human rights should think. And that's exactly what leaders like Putin and Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are exploiting. ... This is particularly worrying when it comes to journalists. Because if journalists run the risk of being thrown into Russian prisons to be used for political horse-trading, what media organisations will be willing to send their correspondents there? The consequence will be that there are no journalists in countries like Russia and Iran to report on what is going on there.”
Light and darkness
In a Telgram post by opposition politician Lev Shlosberg published in Echo, relief is mixed with concern:
“Thanks to all those who made this rescue possible, wherever they were. But this exchange is not just a sign of cooperation between irreconcilable sides, it is a sign of the return of the cynical Cold War era in which on the other side of the border lies not a rival but an enemy, not a competitor but an opponent. ... One cannot help but fear for all those who remain in captivity - those who have already been sentenced and those who are under investigation and facing trial in a place where neither justice nor legality can be expected.”
Putin can take new hostages now
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung shakes its head in disbelief:
“The freeing of a condemned murderer who, as the court established, had shot a Chechen in Berlin on orders from Moscow, violates all sense of justice and fairness. But even if viewed through the lens of realpolitik, this swap is a catastrophic mistake. It goes against the first rule in dealings with kidnappers: never give in to their demands. If you show yourself to be open to blackmail, you will be blackmailed, by those blackmailers or by others. ... The Kremlin will not have any trouble finding other agents who are prepared to carry out killings in the West. Because now everyone knows that Putin never deserts his killers, and will do anything to get them home.”
Dialogue is possible
Corriere della Sera sees the prisoner swap as a hopeful sign:
“The fact that Vladimir Putin has ordered the release of Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershovich and former Marine Paul Whelan is very good news. ... Even the dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza was released. Very good news. For those affected. ... But also because the release has taken place within the spectacular framework of a 'prisoner exchange', which is clear evidence of the opening of a channel of dialogue between the Kremlin and the White House. The US media are rightly claiming that this is the largest 'favourable exchange of men and women' in the history of relations between the two countries.”
Joy, contempt, surprise
The Times has mixed feelings:
“The first reaction of everyone must be joy that the long ordeal of Evan Gershkovich has come to an end. ... The second reaction must be utter contempt for a thuggish government that so cynically kidnaps western journalists and other convenient hostages to trade them for killers, arms dealers and spies. ... And the third reaction must be surprise that, at a time of almost unprecedented tension with Russia, the Biden administration has been able to strike a hard bargain that has also freed a number of brave Russians who have campaigned against abuses and repression and paid for it with long prison sentences.”
Remember what happened to Skripal
El Periódico de Catalunya fears for the safety of the released prisoners:
“As regards those released from Russian prisons, we can only hope that what happened in 2010 will not be repeated. Back then, Sergei Skripal, a former [Russian] military intelligence officer accused of spying for the British M16 secret service, was released in another major prisoner exchange deal, but became the target of a poisoning attack eight years later.”