Europeans and Russians should remember what bound them together: anti-fascism | Kirill Medvedev

Russian media pours scorn on Europe, but the only progressive way forward for our common continent is together

In the early 1990s Russia used to have a strong sense of belonging in Europe. This began to change: the post-Soviet shock therapy reforms were a punishing transition to a free-market society, when a kilogram of sausage cost about the same as a monthly pension and many families experienced malnutrition and hunger. The sudden shift to a more westernised" way of running the economy left many impoverished, which was eventually capitalised on - after the oligarchic power wars - by a new political leader who embraced a conservative, nationalist rhetoric: Vladimir Putin.

Today, Russian television presenters feed us stories about a European continent in decay, where aggressive migrants" run amok, where social services take children away from their parents for being slapped", where sexual minorities" destroy traditional families.