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Russia Prepares To Defend Itself Against Attacks From European Deput

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  • Russia Prepares To Defend Itself Against Attacks From European Deput

    RUSSIA PREPARES TO DEFEND ITSELF AGAINST ATTACKS FROM EUROPEAN DEPUTIES
    Vadim Trukhachev

    PRAVDA
    Jan 27 2009
    Russia

    The winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
    Europe (PACE) began working in Strasburg. European deputies will do
    what they like doing most - criticize Russia for all of its recent
    steps in home and foreign politics. At any rate, one shall expect
    anti-Russian remarks during the discussion of such issues as South
    Ossetia, Ukraine and the Baltic states. The agenda will also include
    the consequences of the financial crisis, the war in Gaza and other
    problems.

    Russia will not be the only antihero at the session. Armenia (an
    Asian republic of the former USSR) also gained some attention of the
    PACE deputies. They claim that Armenia did not fulfill the resolution
    of 2008, did not release political prisoners and did not conduct the
    unbiased investigation of the events which took place in the country
    on March 1-2, when an opposition meeting ended with riots in which
    ten people were killed.

    As for the fuel issue, the Europeans will try to build the Nabucco
    pipeline as soon as possible to transport the Caspian crude to Europe
    bypassing Russia. Armenia, Russia's ally, seems to be a weak link at
    this point. Therefore, Europe will have to put some pressure on the
    Armenian administration to make it run pro-Western foreign policy.

    PACE rapporteurs believe that Russia has not met several requirements
    of last year's resolution on South Ossetia. "The Assembly is sorry that
    Russia has not met most of the requirements of the Assembly, including
    numerous requirements that are not related to the issue of the status
    of two regions (South Ossetia and Abkhazia)," the draft document
    runs. The document does not specify any of those requirements, though.

    Nevertheless, the head of the Russian delegation in Strasburg,
    Konstantin Kosachev, is optimistic about the session. He said that the
    PACE could mitigate the final version of the prepared resolution. "It
    is not ruled out that Russia will support the resolution once it is
    constructive," Kosachev said.

    Another issue on the agenda also catches attention: "The investigation
    of the crimes committed by top officials during Leonid Kuchma's rule
    in Ukraine." On the one hand, it looks like an awkward attempt to
    whitewash Viktor Yushchenko, whose image in Europe was blackened during
    the recent gas crisis. Specialists say that Yushchenko's rule will
    look somewhat better against the background of the crimes committed
    during Kuchma's rule. However, Yushchenko is not bad at all for the
    deputies from Poland and the Baltic states just because of the fact
    that all his actions are aimed against Russia.
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