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U.S. DIPLOMAT URGES RUSSIA TO WITHDRAW TROOPS FROM GEORGIA, MOLDOVA
The Associated Press
International Herald Tribune, France
Dec 4 2006
BRUSSELS, Belgium: A senior U.S. diplomat on Monday called on Russia
to continue the withdrawal of its troops from Georgian and Moldovan
territories, warning that the two ex-Soviet states will remain unstable
as long as support for separatist regimes continues from outside.
Nicholas Burns, U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs,
told a meeting of foreign ministers from the 56-nation Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe that maintaining forces
in another country against its will goes against the spirit of a
21st-century Europe.
"The very principles that are the bedrock of our shared values are
increasingly being brought into question by some countries," Burns
said. "We must give Georgia and Moldova our full support."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed the ideas as
simplistic, saying that the OSCE must not make one-sided efforts to
force through what he called "politicized solutions" to long-lasting
disputes in ex-Soviet republics.
"These attempts ... have very little to do with efforts on the ground
to achieve settlements. Such action leads to exacerbation of tensions
and mistrust, and sets back the clock on any possible solution,"
Lavrov told the conference.
Lavrov called for a reform of the OSCE's election monitoring, which
he said must guarantee "equal treatment" to all countries observed -
an apparent reference to the organization's persistent criticism of
election standards in former Soviet republics.
Europe's "frozen" conflicts are on the agenda at the two-day meeting
of the OSCE. The ministers will also assess Kazakhstan's candidacy
for 2009 chairmanship of the trans-Atlantic political group, backed
by Russia and some other European states but opposed by the United
States and Britain over human rights concerns.
The meeting focuses on conflicts in the breakaway Georgian regions of
Abkhazia and South Ossetia, where Russian peacekeepers are accused
by Georgia of siding with the separatists; on the pro-Russian
separatist Trans-Dniester province of Moldova; and on the disputed
Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oksanian said hopes are high for a
solution of the years long conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh after last
week's meeting of presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
"No one wants a lasting solution more than we in Armenia. The last
meeting of presidents gives hope that agreement is possible even
on the most problematic issues on which we don't see eye to eye,"
he told the conference.
Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht, whose country holds the
Vienna, Austria-based OSCE's rotating presidency this year, also said
a possible solution was emerging.
Armenia and Azerbaijan are discussing terms of holding a referendum
on the status of the mountainous region in Azerbaijan that has been
under control of Armenian and ethnic Armenian Karabakh forces since
the 1994 end of a separatist war.
Years of negotiation have produced little visible sign of progress in
resolving the dispute, which prompted Azerbaijan to close its borders
with Armenia.
The OSCE, a leading international security organization founded in
1973, is concerned particularly with conflict prevention, election
observing, crisis management and rehabilitation of post-conflict areas.
The Associated Press
International Herald Tribune, France
Dec 4 2006
BRUSSELS, Belgium: A senior U.S. diplomat on Monday called on Russia
to continue the withdrawal of its troops from Georgian and Moldovan
territories, warning that the two ex-Soviet states will remain unstable
as long as support for separatist regimes continues from outside.
Nicholas Burns, U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs,
told a meeting of foreign ministers from the 56-nation Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe that maintaining forces
in another country against its will goes against the spirit of a
21st-century Europe.
"The very principles that are the bedrock of our shared values are
increasingly being brought into question by some countries," Burns
said. "We must give Georgia and Moldova our full support."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed the ideas as
simplistic, saying that the OSCE must not make one-sided efforts to
force through what he called "politicized solutions" to long-lasting
disputes in ex-Soviet republics.
"These attempts ... have very little to do with efforts on the ground
to achieve settlements. Such action leads to exacerbation of tensions
and mistrust, and sets back the clock on any possible solution,"
Lavrov told the conference.
Lavrov called for a reform of the OSCE's election monitoring, which
he said must guarantee "equal treatment" to all countries observed -
an apparent reference to the organization's persistent criticism of
election standards in former Soviet republics.
Europe's "frozen" conflicts are on the agenda at the two-day meeting
of the OSCE. The ministers will also assess Kazakhstan's candidacy
for 2009 chairmanship of the trans-Atlantic political group, backed
by Russia and some other European states but opposed by the United
States and Britain over human rights concerns.
The meeting focuses on conflicts in the breakaway Georgian regions of
Abkhazia and South Ossetia, where Russian peacekeepers are accused
by Georgia of siding with the separatists; on the pro-Russian
separatist Trans-Dniester province of Moldova; and on the disputed
Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oksanian said hopes are high for a
solution of the years long conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh after last
week's meeting of presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
"No one wants a lasting solution more than we in Armenia. The last
meeting of presidents gives hope that agreement is possible even
on the most problematic issues on which we don't see eye to eye,"
he told the conference.
Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht, whose country holds the
Vienna, Austria-based OSCE's rotating presidency this year, also said
a possible solution was emerging.
Armenia and Azerbaijan are discussing terms of holding a referendum
on the status of the mountainous region in Azerbaijan that has been
under control of Armenian and ethnic Armenian Karabakh forces since
the 1994 end of a separatist war.
Years of negotiation have produced little visible sign of progress in
resolving the dispute, which prompted Azerbaijan to close its borders
with Armenia.
The OSCE, a leading international security organization founded in
1973, is concerned particularly with conflict prevention, election
observing, crisis management and rehabilitation of post-conflict areas.