Narva/Ivangorod and the Limits of Nationalism

Narva and Ivangorod are two Russian-speaking towns on opposite banks of the Narva River. But as it happens the river is the border between Russia and Estonia, so Narva is in Estonia and Ivangorod is in Russia. Times reporter Andrew Higgins found that while the people of Narva are drawn emotionally to Putin's Russian nationalism, few of them actually want to be part of Russia:

“It is a different world over there,” said Sergei Stepanov, the former longtime editor of Narvskaya Gazeta, a Russian-language newspaper in Narva. “You see and feel the difference as soon as you cross the bridge across the river — the roads, the bureaucracy, the mentality.”

Another Narva resident says, “We are all Russians, but we have a different mentality here. We are used to European ways.”

Incomes are higher in Narva, pensions are much higher, and it is much easier to do just about anything. Streets are in better shape, trash is picked up on schedule, construction projects are finished on time and on budget, and people are optimistic about their future. In Ivangorod, not so much.

Part of Ivangorod's problem is that as a border city it is wrapped up in the state's security mania, a Russian problem that goes back to Stalin:

The church, along with the fortress and various museums, make Ivangorod an attractive destination for tourists. But getting them to come is not easy: Russian law and its security apparatus have put Ivangorod out of bounds for all but the most determined visitors.

All Russians who live outside the border area and any foreigner who wants to visit must submit a written application in Russian and obtain permission from the Leningrad Region branch of the F.S.B., the successor to the Soviet-era K.G.B. It took a reporter for The New York Times two applications and four months to get the permits needed to spend time in Ivangorod.

The mayor of Narva summed it up: “Russians here do not want to go back to the motherland.”

The best defense against the raging emotions that can wreck democratic politics is government that works for the people. The threat of extremism is always with us, but it is much worse when the economy collapses or the government is corrupt and incompetent.