VZCZCXRO9678
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #2057/01 2231422
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 111422Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4497
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MOSCOW 002057 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM PHUM PINR RS
SUBJECT: SELIGER-2009 IN RUSSIAN "YEAR OF YOUTH" STRESSES 
NATIONALISM OVER INNOVATION 
 
REF: 08 MOSCOW 2170 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Seliger-2009, the highly visible Russian 
government-run summer camp for young adults, has come to a 
close.  This is the first year that Seliger has not been 
operated directly by the nationalist youth group "Nashi." 
However, during the first week of August the official youth 
wing of United Russia, Molodaya Gvardia (Young Guard), 
conducted its own camp, taking up where Nashi left off on 
promoting greater nationalism among Russia's youth.  While 
likely marginal in their real impact on the average young 
person in Russia, these youth camps play an important role in 
publicly mobilizing relatively small numbers of 
politically-active youth in a largely apathetic population. 
End Summary. 
 
The &Year of Youth8 
------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) In September 2008, Russian President Dmitriy 
Medvedev proclaimed 2009 the "Year of Youth," a year 
dedicated to developing "creative, scientific and 
professional young people" on the cutting edge of a new 
"socio-economic transformation" in Russia.   The "Year of 
Youth" is the most recent in a string of initiatives intended 
to deal with Russia,s growing health, societal and 
demographic problems.  However, embedded in this rhetoric is 
the government,s belief that Russia,s youth today are not 
getting the "proper patriotic upbringing which instills civic 
initiative" necessary to start this transformation. 
President Medvedev asked the State Duma to divert "all 
necessary resources" towards funding initiatives that promote 
such patriotism and civic duty, the most visible of which has 
been the summer camp Seliger-2009. 
 
Seliger-2009: A Break with the Past? 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶3. (SBU) Seliger is a summer camp located on the banks of 
Lake Seliger in the Tver Region, 200 miles northwest of 
Moscow.  Until this year, the summer camp at Seliger was 
funded and operated by the nationalist youth group "Nashi," 
an organization generally recognized as aggressively 
nationalistic and under the thumb of the Kremlin. In contrast 
to previous years, Seliger-2009 was "transformed" to fit with 
the theme of the "Year of Youth" and is now funded by the 
Federal Ministry of Sport, Tourism and Youth, rather than 
through direct Nashi sponsorship. Seliger-2009 was marketed 
as an innovation forum rather as than a patriotic, 
nationalistic summer camp. (Note: in 2008, Seliger was also 
marketed as an "innovation forum," but remained a 
Nashi-sponsored event. 2008 saw the lowest number of 
attendees since the camp,s inception in 2004. End note.) 
From the beginning of July until early August, the camp 
conducted a series of week-long modules which included themes 
on leadership, volunteerism, business, and even a course on 
tolerance of other nationalities entitled "Russia for 
Everyone."  The Ministry of Sport, Tourism and Youth 
estimated that over thirty thousand young adults visited 
Seliger by the time it closed August 10, roughly four times 
the number of attendees in previous years. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Prime Minister Putin visited the camp July 27 to 
hear what Russia,s most promising young people had come up 
with throughout the month.  This visit was intended to 
showcase the "innovative" nature of the camp and pledge the 
government,s support for such "educational venues even in an 
economic crisis."  While there, Putin heard from several 
students who presented projects varying from alternative 
energy projects in the Mongolian desert to proposals for new 
cheaper engine sealants, and he lauded participants for being 
on the front lines in tackling key problems confronting 
Russian society, including the "fight against corruption." 
(Note: Kommersant reported that the Chairman of the Federal 
Agency for Youth Issues and former Nashi head Vasiliy 
Yakemyenko counseled young "innovators" ahead of the visit 
against using certain "forbidden" words when speaking with 
the Prime Minister, including "Medvedev, money, President, 
state order, falling to pieces, depressive, bad, give me, and 
help." End note.)  Medvedev also addressed camp participants 
via video-link, focusing on need for youth to play a more 
active role in developing Russia's future innovative economy. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The innovation focus at Seliger ended the last week 
of July, but the religious component of the summer camp 
continued until early August.  This part of the camp is the 
result of direct collaboration between the Russian Orthodox 
Church and Nashi,s religious wing, and during this week some 
 
MOSCOW 00002057  002 OF 003 
 
 
six hundred Orthodox youth from throughout Russia and the CIS 
attended.  According to the leader of Nashi,s religious wing 
Boris Yakemyenko (brother of Vasiliy Yakemyenko), youth 
issues are not simply the responsibility of the state.  They 
are "problems for both Church and state," working together in 
order to make a brighter future for Russia's children.  This 
is the first time that such a religious camp has been offered 
at Seliger, although in 2008 ROC officials were deeply 
involved in the Nashi proceedings (Reftel). 
 
The "Year of Youth:" Simply a Ploy? 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) While polls show that many Russians agree that 
social problems, such as rampant alcoholism and declining 
population, must be dealt with decisively by reaching out to 
Russia's youth, many also argue that the government,s recent 
initiative and the entire "Year of Youth" are not serious. 
An expert on youth issues, when asked what this year's 
initiative in general, and Seliger-2009 in particular, were 
supposed to accomplish, told us "they do not mean anything. 
It is simply a facade."  According to the expert, a top 
United Russia official declared to him - in all seriousness - 
that Seliger-2009 was conceived not as a forum simply for 
young people and their futures, but to deal with "corruption 
in the regions" and, at the same time, to maintain the 
Moscow-dominated power vertical during difficult economic 
times.  Each student was to come up with a project, and at 
the end of the forum, some of these projects would be 
"endorsed" by United Russia officials.  In this way, the camp 
was to stimulate both the minds of young people and provide 
new ideas to local governments throughout Russia, though the 
likelihood of implementing these projects is questionable. 
 
¶7. (SBU) This year's move to bring the Seliger camp under the 
direct control and supervision of the Ministry of Sport, 
Youth and Tourism was also criticized by several members of 
the Russian political establishment. "Solidarity" opposition 
leader Iliya Yashin claimed that Seliger-2009 was simply a 
way to funnel more state money towards the Nashi cause.  He 
argued that the ties between Nashi, the camp and those 
responsible for the "Year of Youth" in general remain too 
strong, as the former head of Nashi, Boris Yakemyenko, now 
heads the Agency for Youth Issues, which is closely connected 
with the funding Ministry. 
 
Diffusion of United Russia,s Youth Group Movement? 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The "nationalization" of the annual Nashi camp at 
Seliger and its move towards less of a politics-dominated 
program in Seliger-2009, points to a diversification of the 
government-sponsored youth movements in Russia.  Nashi's 
continued involvement in Seliger and the government,s wish 
that Seliger attract a broader range of young entrepreneurs 
has created a parallel trend in the youth movement. Several 
youth groups associated with United Russia, such as Molodaya 
Gvardia (Young Guard, the official youth wing of United 
Russia), have taken the role that Nashi formerly occupied as 
promoters of nationalism among Russia's youth. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Molodaya Gvardia conducted its own summer camp, 
called "Gvardia-2020," from August 3-10.  Taking place in the 
rural Lipensk region 400 miles southeast of Moscow, camp 
leaders claimed that over 1000 young people from all over 
Russia attended.  Throughout the week, topics for participant 
discussion included "Russia*it,s Me!" and "I am an agent of 
the Kremlin." The format and focus at this camp paralleled 
Nashi gatherings in past years.  While such nationalistic 
topics were downplayed at this year's Seliger-2009, youth 
groups such as Molodaya Gvardia filled the nationalism gap 
for pro-government, politically-active Russian youth. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) There is little reason to celebrate the 
transformation of Seliger from a Nashi training ground to a 
camp more focused on "innovation."  Kremlin-supported youth 
groups and activities like Seliger-2009 and Gvardia 2020, and 
the extensive coverage in state-run media they receive, 
continued to influence the direction and content of 
activities conducted during the "Year of Youth."  The 
motivation of promoting Russia's image remains key; even 
Seliger,s "tolerance" program preached the need for 
tolerance so that Russia will "become a greater power like 
the United States."  The intimate political connections 
between the government, nationalist circles and youth groups 
 
MOSCOW 00002057  003 OF 003 
 
 
mean that the "Year of Youth" likely will yield less toward 
its professed objective of dealing with the major issues 
facing youth in Russia today, while instead promoting the 
objectives of individuals and groups wedded to more 
narrowly-minded approaches to current challenges. 
RUBIN