Russians to hail their 'holy country'

MOSCOW, Russia -- A decree adding words to Russia's newly restored Soviet-era anthem has been signed by President Vladimir Putin.

The anthem, which once praised the atheist Communist Party and dictator Josef Stalin, now celebrates Russia as a "holy country" that is "protected by God."

Putin's move clears the way for the words to be sung at end of year celebrations for the first time since the "Unbreakable Union" anthem was dropped by former president Boris Yeltsin following the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.

"Russia, our holy country!" the new anthem begins, before going on to praise the country's vast "fields and forests" "from the southern seas to the polar region."

Putin was keen to push through the text ahead of his first New Year's Eve address to the nation as Russia's elected president.

The Soviet-era music was revived earlier this month by the Russian parliament, replacing the anthem by 19th-century composer Mikhail Glinka, because it was seen as hard to sing -- as it had no words.

But they needed new lyrics, as the Soviet-era anthem's praise for the Communist Party was no longer considered appropriate.

Putin discussed the matter late on Friday with Marat Baglai, chairman of the Constitutional Court, after a senior judge voiced doubts that the president could impose the new lyrics without a vote in parliament.

The national anthem is a constitutional matter and restoration of the music composed by Alexander Alexandrov required a two thirds majority in the State Duma (lower house of parliament) earlier this month.

Deputies did not approve lyrics for the music but a Kremlin committee recommended Putin introduce a new text by Sergei Mikhalkov, the popular children's poet who penned the original words in 1943.

Soviet dictator Josef Stalin personally approved the words and music, which were first used in 1944 while most of European Russia was under Nazi occupation.

Putin's order imposing the Mikhalkov lyrics will "remain valid until a corresponding federal constitutional law is passed," according to the text of the decree.

Given the massive majorities the music secured in both houses of parliament, the lyrics are widely expected to enjoy a swift and easy passage.

Moves to restore the Soviet melody, even with a revised text, sparked protests from liberal politicians and leading cultural figures who said the music would be forever tainted by Stalin's bloody purges.

The new version is the third by Mikhalkov, father of Oscar-winning Russian film director Nikita Mikhalkov.

He was asked to compose a second version -- shorn of references to Stalin -- after the dictator fell out of favour following his death in 1953.

The new lyrics' reference to God would have been unthinkable under the Communists, who enforced a policy of official atheism and persecuted religious believers.

The last anthem to mention God was "God Save the Czar," used by the czarist regime that collapsed in 1917.

But, unlike "God Save The Czar," which refers to the "Orthodox czar," the anthem doesn't specify any particular faith. Russia's dominant religion is Orthodox Christianity, but religious minorities include Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Catholics, and Protestants.

Putin, elected March 26, has been more willing to accept symbols

of the Soviet past. He agreed on a compromise under which the old anthem would be restored, while Russia would keep the post-Soviet tricolour flag and the state coat of arms with the czarist double-headed eagle.

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Russian Government

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