Tweet
RUSSIA SNUBS BLACK SEA SUMMIT AIMED AT COOPERATION
Agence France Presse -- English
June 5, 2006 Monday 4:29 PM GMT
Nine countries of the Black Sea region promised on Monday to cooperate
more closely in order to foster prosperity and solve the region's
"frozen conflicts" at a Bucharest summit snubbed by Russia.
Most countries from around the eastern European sea were represented
by presidents or senior ministers, but Moscow sent only its ambassador
to Romania.
Romanian President Traian Basescu spoke of the challenges facing the
region before his counterparts from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia,
Moldova and Ukraine, along with top ministers from Bulgaria, Turkey
and Greece.
The issues ranged from energy security and international crime to the
unresolved conflicts in secessionist regions of former Soviet states.
"We want to send a strong message to the world about our willingness
to address the lack of security in the region," Basescu said in a
speech opening the event.
But Russia's absence was all the more conspicuous for the fact that
Moscow holds the key to resolving some of the region's issues.
"No cooperation process in this region would be complete without
Moscow's participation," Basescu said, adding that he expected a more
positive response from the Russians later on.
However Russia's representative did not sign the summit's joint
declaration, which called for more consultation among the countries in
the region to foster "sustainable development" and "closer cooperation
with the European Union institutions".
Diplomatic sources said Moscow did not wish to encourage the
initiative which it viewed as a rival to the Organization of the
Black Sea Economic Cooperation, founded in 1992 but yet to deliver
any concrete results.
Washington, on the other hand, is very interested in developing ties
with the region and sent to Bucharest Jack Crouch, a former ambassador
to Romania who is now deputy national security advisor to President
George W. Bush.
The Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents, Robert Kocharian and Ilham
Aliyev, took advantage of their presence in the Romanian capital
to restart their talks over the tricky issue of Nagorno-Karabakh,
an Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan whose status remains unresolved
since a bloody war in the early 1990s.
But after an initial meeting behind closed doors on Sunday, the
leaders' positions did not appear to have shifted. Kocharian insisted
on "the Armenian people's right to autonomy" while Aliyev defended
the need to "respect Azerbaijan's territorial integrity".
Terry Davis, the Council of Europe's secretary-general, also attended
the summit and praised the Black Sea countries for wanting to speed
up regional development. He added that he would "firmly support"
those countries that wanted to join the EU.
"The world is ready to welcome the Black Sea tigers," he said, but
added that "for them to show their teeth, words are not enough."
Countries bordering on the Black Sea include Turkey, Bulgaria,
Romania, Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia, as well as the breakaway region
of Abkhazia.
Agence France Presse -- English
June 5, 2006 Monday 4:29 PM GMT
Nine countries of the Black Sea region promised on Monday to cooperate
more closely in order to foster prosperity and solve the region's
"frozen conflicts" at a Bucharest summit snubbed by Russia.
Most countries from around the eastern European sea were represented
by presidents or senior ministers, but Moscow sent only its ambassador
to Romania.
Romanian President Traian Basescu spoke of the challenges facing the
region before his counterparts from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia,
Moldova and Ukraine, along with top ministers from Bulgaria, Turkey
and Greece.
The issues ranged from energy security and international crime to the
unresolved conflicts in secessionist regions of former Soviet states.
"We want to send a strong message to the world about our willingness
to address the lack of security in the region," Basescu said in a
speech opening the event.
But Russia's absence was all the more conspicuous for the fact that
Moscow holds the key to resolving some of the region's issues.
"No cooperation process in this region would be complete without
Moscow's participation," Basescu said, adding that he expected a more
positive response from the Russians later on.
However Russia's representative did not sign the summit's joint
declaration, which called for more consultation among the countries in
the region to foster "sustainable development" and "closer cooperation
with the European Union institutions".
Diplomatic sources said Moscow did not wish to encourage the
initiative which it viewed as a rival to the Organization of the
Black Sea Economic Cooperation, founded in 1992 but yet to deliver
any concrete results.
Washington, on the other hand, is very interested in developing ties
with the region and sent to Bucharest Jack Crouch, a former ambassador
to Romania who is now deputy national security advisor to President
George W. Bush.
The Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents, Robert Kocharian and Ilham
Aliyev, took advantage of their presence in the Romanian capital
to restart their talks over the tricky issue of Nagorno-Karabakh,
an Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan whose status remains unresolved
since a bloody war in the early 1990s.
But after an initial meeting behind closed doors on Sunday, the
leaders' positions did not appear to have shifted. Kocharian insisted
on "the Armenian people's right to autonomy" while Aliyev defended
the need to "respect Azerbaijan's territorial integrity".
Terry Davis, the Council of Europe's secretary-general, also attended
the summit and praised the Black Sea countries for wanting to speed
up regional development. He added that he would "firmly support"
those countries that wanted to join the EU.
"The world is ready to welcome the Black Sea tigers," he said, but
added that "for them to show their teeth, words are not enough."
Countries bordering on the Black Sea include Turkey, Bulgaria,
Romania, Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia, as well as the breakaway region
of Abkhazia.