Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the flamboyant Russian nationalist, is no longer welcome in Kyrgyzstan.
Parliament voted May 15 to ask the Foreign Ministry to declare the Russian State Duma vice speaker persona non grata. Though some deputies warned the measure could damage relations with Moscow, 67 of 120 voted for the ban.
Zhirinovsky, who heads Russia’s Liberal Democratic Party, angered many in Bishkek last month by suggesting Kyrgyzstan give up one of its most prized assets – picturesque Lake Issyk-Kul – in exchange for a debt write-off.
He often makes disparaging remarks about Central Asian migrants in Russia and has pushed to tighten visa requirements. But his venom is not just directed at Kyrgyzstan.
A few weeks back, Zhirinovsky suggested that Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon – who is engaged in a protracted dispute over the lease for a Russian division based in Tajikistan – could end up facing a brutal and public death at the hands of the Taliban were it not for Russian aid.
This isn’t the first time the thin-skinned Kyrgyz parliament has voted to ban a critic. In 2011, after an international commission found Kyrgyz leaders had not done enough to stop ethnic bloodshed in the country’s south the previous year, parliament voted to ban the commission’s lead author, Finish politician Kimmo Kiljunen.
A few weeks ago, another Russian critic was turned away from the Kyrgyz border. Alexander Knyazev, who regularly predicts doom for Kyrgyzstan (often with widely implausible scenarios involving American mischief), and is thought to have strong Kremlin ties, was barred from entering and told he had been banned by the Kyrgyz security services for “certain reasons.”
It’s not clear if Zhirinovsky – who says the Kyrgyz “misunderstood” his comments – had any immediate plans to visit Kyrgyzstan. But last year he was reportedly looking to turn his childhood home in Almaty, Kazakhstan, into a museum.
For Central Asians, such a memorial would be about as appealing as a leper colony. Certainly, few will cry if he never makes it to the region again.
David Trilling is Eurasianet’s managing editor.
Sign up for Eurasianet's free weekly newsletter. Support Eurasianet: Help keep our journalism open to all, and influenced by none.