The Free Nations of Post-Russia Forum (FNRF or FSNR; Russian: Форум свободных народов Построссии, romanized: Forum svobodnykh narodov Post-Rossii) is a forum founded by Ukrainian restaurant business owner Oleg Magaletsky,[1] exiled Russian separatists, as well as foreign sympathizers, which advocates for the disintegration of Russia.[2] It was registered[clarification needed] in Poland.[3]
The forum participants set as their goal the disintegration of Russia into several independent states.[4] At the 2nd forum; the deimperialization, decolonization, deputinization, denazification, demilitarization, and denuclearization of Russia were named as topics for discussion,[5] and the forum participants “appealed to the national and regional elites of the UN countries with a call to begin the creation of national transitional governments in exile”.[6]
According to the French historian and sociologist Marlene Laruelle, the calls of the forum participants for the “liberation of enslaved peoples” refers to the slogan “prison of nations” from the times of the Russian Empire and to the CIA-sponsored Anti-Bolshevik bloc of peoples during the Cold War.[7]
Participants
One of the maps used by the Forum
American historian and political scientist Alexander Motyl and the publication “Current Time” names Ilya Ponomarev, a former State Duma deputy who now lives in Ukraine, as the organizer for one of the groups active in the forum.[4][8]
According to the publications Meduza and Novaya Gazeta, the organizer of the forum is Ukrainian entrepreneur, owner of a restaurant business[1] and Euromaidan participant Oleg Magaletsky.[9] He states that the forum has two goals: to prepare people inside Russia for the idea that its collapse is necessary, and to reconcile the West with this. According to him, the forum’s sponsors change every time: either European public organizations or philanthropists from Ukraine.[1]
The first forum happened on 8-9 May, 2022 in Warsaw, Poland.[18]
Second forum
Forum II
The second forum was held in Prague on 23 July, 2022. The Declaration on the Decolonization of Russia was signed by 30 represenatvies of various organizations, the declaration outlined "future" borders and relations between participants.[18]
Forum III
The third forum was held in Gdansk on 23-25 September, 2022.[12] The forum was renamed from Free Nations of Russia Forum to Free Nations of Post-Russia Forum.[19] Representatives of organizations also signed the Gdansk Manifesto, which called upon the EU and NATO to support separatism in Russia.[19]
Forum IV
The fourth forum was held in Helsingborg, Sweden on 7-11 December, 2022. The Forum attendees organized online independence referendums for Ingria, Kuban, Siberia and Ural.[20]
Forum V
The fifth forum was held in the European Parliament in Brussles on 31 January, 2023. Participants in the forum adopted a declaration where they stated that “the future of every liberated people and region should be decided by the people and region themselves based on the principle of self-determination of the nation, up to secession and other generally recognized norms of international law.”[21] Members organizations also requested financial supported from the EU and NATO.[21] The forum caused conflict among the wider Russian opposition, with some claiming that the forum was organized by "freaks".[22]
The seventh forum was held in the Japanese Parliament on 1-2 August, 2023. Yosuke Suzuki claimed that the Japanese government might support the separatists in the future, as Japan has territorial claims against Russia.[24]
Forum VIII
The eighth forum was held in London and Paris on 26-28 September, 2023.[25]
Forum IX
The ninth forum was held in Senate of the Republic and Berlin on 11-14 December, 2023. Participants signed a decree, proclaiming the priority of the currently existing administrative boundaries between the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in order to provent possible future conflicts.[26] After the forum the Investigative Committee of Russia threatened all speakers with criminal cases.[27]
Criticism
Russian political scientist Alexander Kynev writes that the forum was held by “certain forces abroad, who have little understanding of the mood inside the country, who do not take into account the extremely negative memories of the majority of its inhabitants” about the collapse of the USSR, and with their program to create national states in the place of Russia, they presented “a gift to the Russian propaganda, which already periodically repeats that Russia’s enemies want to fragment and destroy it". He also condemned the very idea of the collapse of Russia, since this, in his opinion, would lead to “wars, territorial disputes and ethnic cleansing”.[6]
French historian and sociologist Marlene Laruelle writes that Western politicians should not confuse the radical statements of political exiles like the Forum of Free Peoples of Russia with the opinions of Russian citizens. She condemned the advocacy of some Western politicians for the disintegration of Russia as a false strategy that would be “a disaster for international security” and which stems from a misunderstanding of what exactly “holds Russian society together in all its diversity”.[7]
American historian and political scientist Alexander Motyl wonders whether the forum participants represent anyone, and also writes that “political emigrants around the world have a long history of loud statements that ultimately lead nowhere". At the same time, he notes that in some cases political emigrants did gain power - for example, Lenin and Trotsky, Ayatollah Khomeini, Ho Chi Minh, Mahatma Gandhi - and therefore “it would be premature to reject the Forum as a meaningless conclave of emigrants”.[4]
Russian political scientist Fyodor Krasheninnikov wonders what relation the forum participants have to the Russian opposition, and claims that they “represent no one but themselves, no one knows them [in the regions]".[28]
Russian economist and political scientist Vladislav Inozemtsev, who took part in the 5th forum at the invitation of the organizers from the European Parliament, believes that the forum “exists only thanks to the efforts of the Ukrainian leadership". In his opinion, it may happen that the border territories - Chechnya, Ingushetia or Tuva - will secede from Russia, but “there has not been a single case in history where a mononational state was divided without occupation”.[9]
Vadim Shtepa, a leading Russian regionalist and one of the founders of the organization, withdrew from the Forum in December 2022, condemning it as a "parody" which, instead of performing serious analytical work on de-imperalization, focused on "loud" and "empty" declarations of independence by emigrants that would have no practical effect on their respective regions.[29]
On the website of "SVTV", the publication of the politician Mikhail Svetov, there was a message about "state security agents who gathered ... a forum to remind you that if not Putin, then a civil war" and "painted a contour map without really thinking about the meaning of the proposed reforms".[30]
On July 25, the head of ChechnyaRamzan Kadyrov ridiculed the Free Nations of Russia Forum, held in Prague. He thanked the "pseudo-liberals" for confirming the words of the Russian leadership about attempts to disintegrate the country.[31][32]
Reaction of the Russian authorities
In November 2022, the head of the Center for the Resolution of Social Conflicts, Oleg Ivanov, called on the Russian special services to “initiate criminal cases of treason, put traitors on the wanted list and submit requests for their extradition to Interpol” against participants in the Forum of Free Peoples of Russia and the Congress of People's Deputies. He also suggested “remembering the precepts of the famous Soviet intelligence officer Pavel Sudoplatov", that is, committing murders of political emigrants abroad.[33]
On March 17, 2023, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office declared the forum an "undesirable organization". According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, “the organization’s activities pose a threat to the foundations of the constitutional order and security of the Russian Federation", and its leaders “call for violation of the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation and come out with separatist nationalist slogans”.[8]
At the beginning of August 2023, the Russian Foreign Ministry lodged an official protest with the Japanese Embassy over the holding of a meeting of the “Forum of Free Peoples of Post-Russia” in Tokyo. Allegedly due to the propaganda of separatist ideology. Moscow considered that assistance to the Forum constituted an act of interference in the internal affairs of Russia. The ministry also recalled that many participants in the meeting are recognized in Russia as extremists and foreign agents. “Such a practice, capable of completely destroying the remnants of normal relations dismantled by the Japanese government, must be stopped immediately, and Japanese apologists of terrorist ideas must suffer a well-deserved punishment", says a note of protest published on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry. The diplomatic department warned their Japanese colleagues that if such a “provocation” were repeated, they should prepare for the “most sensitive” retaliatory steps from the Kremlin.[34][35]
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