Yeah, the powergrab on the media and justice department has costs them points with the EU already. The other side of the story I hear though is, that the current blitzkrieg of replacing key figures and controlling the media is nescessary, to get rid of the deeply rooted corruption that came with the previous government.
More other news:
In a 2-hour long interview, of which part one was published today in the German Bild magazine, president Putin has blamed the NATO, and it's expansionist policies, for being the sole reason for all crises in Europe.
"the NATO and the US wanted a complete victory over the Soviet Union, and they wanted to be the only ones to sit on Europe's throne. But now that they are sitting on it, they are facing all these crises that would not have been otherwise".
Russia is not against cooperation with Europe, especially Germany, according to Putin. "Despite the help of anti-Russian propaganda, the German mass media has not succeeded in damaging our feelings of sympathy towards Germany".
Putin furthermore stresses that Europe and Russia will need to cooperate better in combating terrorism.
He also refuted the accusations of aggression. The joining of the Crimea area with Russia is regarded by the international community as an act of expansion, but Putin claims that "our soldiers have only prevented Ukrainian forces from denying freedom of expression to the people in Crimea". With this, he is referring to the referendum that was held before the annexation, in which a large majority voted for joining Russia.
"For me, it's not about borders, or state territory, it's about the wellbeing of the people".
With this, Putin is trying to hold a mirror in the face of Europe. "If the Kosovars have the right to secede, then why don't the Crimeans?" (Russia backed Serbia back in the days, which opposed the seccession of the Kosovo province, the NATO bombed Serbia to support Kosovo)
About the sanctions in place against Russia, he says "those sanctions are an absurd theatre. They are in no way meant to aid Ukraine, their only purpose is to geopolitically damage Russia."
He goes on to call it a "foolish policy". He says it's not his fault that the Minsk II agreement, that was reached in early 2015 to end the crisis in Ukraine, has not been implemented yet.
http://www.volkskrant.nl/buitenland/poetin-eu-sancties-tegen-rusland-absurd-theater~a4222417/