After blowing the whistle on the National Security Agency, Edward Snowden sought asylum in 21 countries, yet only Russia accepted him. Why? President Vladimir Putin wanted Snowden’s intelligence and secrets, and didn’t care how the U.S. would react. This is Putin’s way. His personality is very similar to Donald Trump’s.
What could possibly be happening in Russia for Snowden to openly criticize Russia and Putin in a video conference this week while accepting a Norwegian award. According to The Hill, Snowden made the following comments regarding Russia’s stance on Human Rights: “It’s wrong in Russia, and it would be wrong anywhere. . . . It’s disappointing. It’s frustrating.” “This drive that we see in the Russian government to control more and more of the internet, to control more and more what people are seeing, even parts of personal lives, deciding what is the appropriate or inappropriate way for people to express their love for one another … [is] fundamentally wrong.”
While these types of criticism are fine and acceptable in the United States, this is unacceptable in Russia, and especially toward President Putin. This definitely is worth monitoring to see how this transpires. Snowden must believe that he has inside information very damaging to Russia and President Putin to prevent Putin from punishing him; or at minimum he believes that Putin isn’t willing to call his bluff, if Snowden is bluffing.
