We Haven’t Done Anything,It’s a Failure of European Democracy

“The EU should take up the role of Snowden’s plenipotentiary in his conflict with the American administration so that he can be treated as a person,” Józef Pinior, a senator in the Polish Parliament and a member of the Commission of Human Rights, said to Tok FM.

Edward Snowden got temporary asylum from Russian authorities on Aug. 1, 2013. He was able to leave the airport after more than a month. The former CIA analyst had disclosed mass surveillance.

“It’s very bad that the EU state institutions, including Polish ones, didn’t do anything to be Snowden’s plenipotentiary in his conflict with the American administration,” Pinior said, and added, “The situation in which Snowden found himself results from the failure of the European democracy regarding this matter.”

Russia as a friend of the oppressed? This is something new.

Agnieszka Lichnerowicz, the journalist who led the program, pointed out that usually it is the U.S. and EU countries that grant political asylum to the citizens of China, Iran or other regime countries, while in Snowden’s case, it was the other way round.

“The regime that Putin has built violates civil liberties all the time,” the senator admitted and noted that this situation is inconvenient for the Russian president, who would like to be on good terms with the U.S.

Barack Obama has already announced that he will not meet Putin during the G-20 Summit. At the same time, 51 percent of Russians support Snowden’s decision, according to a survey carried out for CNN; he is very popular there.

Chance for Poland

Pinior thinks also that Poland has a great role to play in the field of civil liberty protection because it is known all over the world for its historical sensitivity and fight for freedom. “Indeed, it’s a brand, which is associated with Poland,” he said. He added also that he is doing his best in the European Parliament for Snowden to be awarded the Sakharov Prize.

Snowden left the transit area of Sheremetyevo Airport and thanked the Russian authorities for the granted asylum. The former CIA analyst is going to hide in a safe place now. Snowden gave up his previous plans to get to Latin America and would like to stay permanently in Russia. Pavel Durov, from the social networking service VKontakte, a Russian counterpart of Facebook, has offered him a job as a specialist for securing users’ data.