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WESTERN COMMUNITY MIGHT BECOME PEACEKEEPER
WPS Agency
July 6, 2011 Wednesday
Russia
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, No 137, July 6, 2011, p. 2
[translated from Russian]
RUSSIA'S ROLE OF PEACEKEEPER AND GO-BETWEEN IN THE COMMONWEALTH
OUGHT TO BE REVISED; The impression is that Russia does not care
about unsolved problems within the Commonwealth.
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandjan was met in Moscow
yesterday. Nalbandjan is scheduled to meet with his Russian
opposite number Sergei Lavrov. That the talks will be centered around
Nagorno-Karabakh or Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict resolution need not
be said. The recent Azerbaijani-Armenian talks in Kazan ended with
nothing to show for it, much to the embarrassment of official Moscow
and President Dmitry Medvedev who expected better from his Armenian
and Azerbaijani counterparts Serj Sargsjan and Ilham Aliyev.
Unfortunately, neither Yerevan nor Baku turned out to be ready for
a compromise. France offered to become a go-between earlier this week.
Its Foreign Ministry said that it possessed the willingness to help
with the conflict resolution and ideas by which it thought it might
be accomplished.
The Kazan fiasco was not the only one for Moscow. Representatives of
Kishinev and Tiraspol failed to reach an agreement at a meeting in
the Russian capital. Trans-Dniester conflict resolution, the process
where Russia has always called the tune, is back to where is was two
decades ago. The involved parties use the rhetorics they used before
the outbreak of the war in 1992. Russia eventually stopped that war. It
has been maintaining peace in the region ever since. Unfortunately,
it seems that there is nothing constructive Russia can offer Tiraspol
and Kishinev these days. As matters stand, it can only offer guarantees
of security to the population of the self-proclaimed Trans-Dniester
Moldovan Republic. That's all. The European Union, however, can offer
more - and does so offer.
Germany is particularly active, establishing and developing political
dialogue with the leadership in Tiraspol and working with local
businesses. These latter are lured by the promises of the preferences
Moldovan businesses enjoy.
In a word, Russia is being ousted as the prime peacekeeping and
negotiator from the zone of its vital interests. The Europeans move in
whenever Russia takes a step back. When it refuses to, the Europeans
never hesitate to push it back. Consider the Eastern Partnership
initiative applied to Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia.
This is a program Belarus is encouraged to join as well. The Europeans
work with all these countries, ensuring their own security and
exporting democratic values to these territories.
As for Russia, it does not appear to care about latent conflicts along
its perimeters. It's time for Moscow to reconsider its attitude and
foreign policy.
WPS Agency
July 6, 2011 Wednesday
Russia
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, No 137, July 6, 2011, p. 2
[translated from Russian]
RUSSIA'S ROLE OF PEACEKEEPER AND GO-BETWEEN IN THE COMMONWEALTH
OUGHT TO BE REVISED; The impression is that Russia does not care
about unsolved problems within the Commonwealth.
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandjan was met in Moscow
yesterday. Nalbandjan is scheduled to meet with his Russian
opposite number Sergei Lavrov. That the talks will be centered around
Nagorno-Karabakh or Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict resolution need not
be said. The recent Azerbaijani-Armenian talks in Kazan ended with
nothing to show for it, much to the embarrassment of official Moscow
and President Dmitry Medvedev who expected better from his Armenian
and Azerbaijani counterparts Serj Sargsjan and Ilham Aliyev.
Unfortunately, neither Yerevan nor Baku turned out to be ready for
a compromise. France offered to become a go-between earlier this week.
Its Foreign Ministry said that it possessed the willingness to help
with the conflict resolution and ideas by which it thought it might
be accomplished.
The Kazan fiasco was not the only one for Moscow. Representatives of
Kishinev and Tiraspol failed to reach an agreement at a meeting in
the Russian capital. Trans-Dniester conflict resolution, the process
where Russia has always called the tune, is back to where is was two
decades ago. The involved parties use the rhetorics they used before
the outbreak of the war in 1992. Russia eventually stopped that war. It
has been maintaining peace in the region ever since. Unfortunately,
it seems that there is nothing constructive Russia can offer Tiraspol
and Kishinev these days. As matters stand, it can only offer guarantees
of security to the population of the self-proclaimed Trans-Dniester
Moldovan Republic. That's all. The European Union, however, can offer
more - and does so offer.
Germany is particularly active, establishing and developing political
dialogue with the leadership in Tiraspol and working with local
businesses. These latter are lured by the promises of the preferences
Moldovan businesses enjoy.
In a word, Russia is being ousted as the prime peacekeeping and
negotiator from the zone of its vital interests. The Europeans move in
whenever Russia takes a step back. When it refuses to, the Europeans
never hesitate to push it back. Consider the Eastern Partnership
initiative applied to Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia.
This is a program Belarus is encouraged to join as well. The Europeans
work with all these countries, ensuring their own security and
exporting democratic values to these territories.
As for Russia, it does not appear to care about latent conflicts along
its perimeters. It's time for Moscow to reconsider its attitude and
foreign policy.