US President George W Bush came, saw, and conquered St Petersburg. Shohdy Naguib reports from Russia The much-neglected cultural capital of northern Russia, the city of St Petersburg, is celebrating its tercentenary anniversary this week with a multitude of cultural and political events. Hasty preparations for the momentous event, with repairs and restorations being undertaken in a once- splendid city, have overwhelmed its melancholic inhabitants. Founded in 1703 as the new capital of Russia by the mighty reformist Czar Peter the Great, the city has been referred to as the "window to Europe". St Petersburg was the country's military, industrial and commercial stronghold, as well as being the cultural gem of the Baltic. The Bolsheviks, however, turned things around. During the civil war they decided to move the capital back to Moscow, a move "inland" that eventually provided the vast new Eurasian Empire with much-needed balance. Neatly dubbed "St Putinsburg" by the Christian Science Monitor, the city is the hometown of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and witnessed the crucial development of his career before he sky-rocketed to the highest office of the land. The presidential team, now ensconced in the Kremlin, is dominated by his old- time cronies from St Petersburg who are interested in closer integration with the West. This noble city, however, still suffers from the common ills which is the lot of other Russian metropoles, namely poverty and corruption. Ahead of the international summit in which as many as 50 heads of state were expected to participate, the efforts to mask insidious urban decay were truly pathetic. The media were quick to raise the historical ghosts of the "Potyomkin villages", which were built by Prince Potyomkin to show Empress Catherine II how well her people were living. The Russia-European Union summit seems to be replaying the past. In addition to the 15 EU heads of states, the Chairman of the European Commission Romano Prodi and the General- Secretary of the EU Council Xavier Solana, the event was attended by 10 heads of those states due to join the EU in 2004. The future of relations between Moscow and Brussels depends on the successful resolution of several key issues, the main one being the expansion of the EU to include three former USSR Baltic states. The problem here concerns transit rights to Klainingrad, a Russian city cut off from the Russian 'mainland' by the soon-to-be EU state of Lithuania. President Putin has demanded that the EU remove visa requirements for Russian citizens, a measure welcomed by Italy, Portugal and Spain. France and Germany, however, oppose such a liberal approach. For the time being, the relationship between Moscow and Brussels can only be characterised as lukewarm. The important decisions regarding the European continent are being taken in Brussels while Russia, which has traditionally regarded itself as part of Europe, is finding itself more and more isolated from it. The short time scheduled for the high-ranking summit in St Petersburg was surely insufficient for tackling the practical matters hampering EU- Russia cooperation. Although the EU wanted to include the issue of human rights violations in Chechnya on the agenda, Russia strongly objected. The lethal bombings in the breakaway republic have in no way affected Russia's adamant refusal to discuss the issue. According to officialdom, everything is under control. Some analysts believe that the relationship between Russia and the EU has become purely formal. "If Europe wants to become an independent and credible world power, the shortest and simplest way of achieving this is by improving its relationship with Russia," Putin told a news conference in St Petersburg. A triumphant George W Bush, whose presence was exceptionally valuable to the Russian host, flew in on Saturday. Vladimir Putin has come out of the Iraq crisis with minimal losses, and with Russia retaining a central role in the "war on terrorism". When it comes to containing nuclear proliferation and putting pressure on North Korea and Iran, Russia is an indispensable US ally. Indeed, President Bush left St Petersburg content with having "given the Russian president a new vision of the Iranian nuclear threat". The formal ratification of the bilateral Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty has become a hallmark of the American president's stay in St Petersburg. During the ensuing press conference, Putin described the treaty as being "particularly relevant to the fight against international terrorism", with Bush saying that it "reflects the new strategic cooperation between USA and Russia". Finally, the Russian president has been invited by his American counterpart to visit him at his Texas ranch, which is regarded as the ultimate indication of Bush's understanding and forgiveness of Putin for Russia's anti-war stance during the Iraq crisis. After having enjoyed themselves in refurbished St Petersburg, the heads of state left for the meeting of the G-8 in Evian -- where they all met again. But then President Bush quite abruptly ended his stay, confirming the feeling that he was still in the process of settling post-Iraq war accounts. Indeed, it looked like Putin was forgiven, while Schroeder was ignored and Chirac punished.
