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West May Supplant Russia As Peacemaker: Moscow'S Intermediary Missio

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  • West May Supplant Russia As Peacemaker: Moscow'S Intermediary Missio

    WEST MAY SUPPLANT RUSSIA AS PEACEMAKER: MOSCOW'S INTERMEDIARY MISSION ON CIS TERRITORY IS IN NEED OF REVISION

    Nezavisimaya Gazeta website
    July 5 2011
    Russia

    Editorial
    [translated from Russian]

    Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandyan arrived in Moscow
    yesterday. Russian Federation Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is due
    to meet with him. The topic of discussion has not been made public,
    but even so, it was obvious to everyone that the conversation will
    be about Nagornyy Karabakh, or, following the generally accepted
    terminology, the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

    Especially seeing that recent high-level talks on this subject in Kazan
    were not crowned with success. The Russian and international mass media
    even described them as a failure, and numbered them among the Russian
    Federation's image losses. But after all, President Dmitriy Medvedev
    had assumed the role of mediator and most likely expected a compromise
    from Ilkham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan. However, the good relations
    of the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents with Dmitriy Medvedev was
    in no way reflected in the result. Baku and Yerevan did not change
    their positions. This week France offered its intermediary services to
    the parties to the conflict. That country's Foreign Ministry stated
    that the French have not only the desire to help, but also specific
    proposals. What these are precisely is so far not being disclosed.

    Another disappointment in the peacemaking field overtook Moscow
    in June, when representatives of Chisinau and Tiraspol were unable
    to reach an agreement in the Russian capital. The Dniester region
    settlement process, in which, until recently, Russia played the main
    role, has not only not moved forward, but to all intents and purposes
    has actually gone backward by 20 years. At least in the rhetoric of
    the sides, which is just as aggressive as it was before the beginning
    of the war in 1992. That war was stopped by Russia, and throughout the
    intervening years it has ensured peace in the region. However, today,
    all the signs suggest, it cannot offer the sides anything productive.

    Its role at this stage consists of security guarantees to the
    population of the Dniester Region, which in a referendum in 2006 voted
    for integration with the Russian Federation. Moscow cannot promise
    Tiraspol anything more. But the European Union, on the other hand, can.

    An active position here has been adopted by Germany, which is not only
    conducting a political dialogue with the Dniester Region leadership,
    but is also working with the local business community. The main
    real enticement for the latter is to receive from the EU the same
    preferences that have already been granted to Chisinau. This year the
    EU increased various export quotas for Moldova by 30 per cent-50 per
    cent. Deliveries of Moldovan goods to the European Union have increased
    by 63 per cent since January. An autonomous system of preferences
    effectively amounting to an asymmetric free trade regime operates
    between Moldova and the EU. Moldovan goods reach the European market
    without customs barriers. At the same time, Moldovan exports to the
    Russian Federation, including of wines and cognacs, have shrunk by
    50 per cent. It must be said that this kind of specifics is viewed
    highly positively both by the population and by the politicians of
    Moldova and the Dniester Region.

    The fact that Russia is losing ground in an area of its vital interests
    is noted by many people. As is the fact that Europeans are trying - not
    without success - to take over its position as the main negotiator. At
    the same time, one cannot deny the EU's consistency.

    Just take the "Eastern Partnership" programme, in which Ukraine,
    Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia participate, and which
    Belarus is being invited to join. The Europeans work with everyone
    together and with each country separately, believing that thereby
    they are safeguarding their own security. And at the same time they
    are exporting to their partner countries those same democratic values.

    The West's activity in the post-Soviet area is a consequence of the
    implementation of its own general security strategy. The presence of
    regional hotspots in Europe does not fit into this strategy. Russia,
    on the other hand, it would appear, is not partic ularly aggrieved
    by the presence of smoldering conflicts along the perimeter of
    its own borders. Today, however, it is perfectly obvious that
    the political demand of contemporary Europe dictates the swiftest
    possible settlement of all volatile situations. This requires the
    organizational, financial, personnel, and intellectual reinforcement
    of the peacekeeping segment of Russia's foreign policy.




    From: A. Papazian
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