#7
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
April 25, 2002
THE PENTAGON INCLUDES RUSSIA IN ITS ZONE OF RESPONSIBILITY
Referring to the Council of 20, NATO drives Moscow the into geopolitical backwaters
Author: Marina Kalashnikova
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]

THE RUSSIA-NATO ROMANCE, CHAPERONED AND ENCOURAGED BY THE MEDIA, IS EVOLVING TOWARD ITS CULMINATION: THE APPEARANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF 20. AT THE SAME TIME, WE ARE WATCHING AN UNPRECEDENTED REVISION OF POST- SOVIET TERRITORY AND ADJACENT REGIONS.

The world may change greatly by the end of the year

Major events in the zone of the so-called European-Atlantic partnership take place on two planes. The Russia-NATO romance, chaperoned and encouraged by the media, is evolving toward its culmination: the appearance of the Council of 20. At the same time, we are watching an unprecedented revision of post-Soviet territory and adjacent regions. Official bodies comment on this revision in a fairly shallow manner, and the Russian authorities do so with apparent reluctance.

As usual, the major events will take place far from the diplomatic hurly-burly of Brussels. The general outline of these major events will be represented by the new zone of responsibility of the US army group in Europe. The Pentagon announces that it will cover all of the Russian Federation from October 1, 2002. The European command, with its headquarters in Stutgart, will spread its protective hand over the Caspian Sea as well.

Before the United States moved into the Caucasus and Central Asia, these regions were included in the zones of responsibility of the European and Central commands in 1998. The Pentagon is once again promoting the objective of "developing direct military contacts" through establishing joint formations and organizing joint exercises, among other things.

In the meantime, the United States and NATO - with their long- range radars, ELINT systems, and military bases - are approaching the borders of the Krasnodar territory, Pskov, Saratov, Chelyabinsk, and other regions of Russia. Air Force exercises near the north-western borders of the Russian Federation will begin in April, on the eve of the series of summit meetings. In late June, NATO will drill peacekeeping operations in Georgia, specifically at the Vaziani base. And so on.

NATO's move beyond the borders of its traditional territory marks a revolution in the history of the Alliance. Brussels is already thinking along the lines of forming a special command for operations worldwide, the so-called Force Projection Command. In this way, it will usurp UN global police functions. In the UN, Russia is one of the decision-makers. In NATO, it is just an advisor, on probation.

The existing Russian-NATO Permanent Council was formed in 1997 to sweeten the pill of the first wave of NATO expansion. The Council exhausted its usefulness the day Yevgeny Primakov's plane made a U- turn over the Atlantic. When NATO attacked Yugoslavia in March 1999, Russia accused it of being an aggressor and quit the Council. It was not yet the time for the West to manipulate Moscow directly.

Actually, Moscow slammed the door then - only to cool down somewhat and return. Indeed, why play boycott games, when the new Belgrade leadership itself turned over the former leader to The Hague (and is waiting for the promised investment)?

This year the matter concerns a much more substantial expansion of the Alliance. An entirely new configuration is to be established, an unbroken NATO front from Ivan-Gorod to Ismail. To one extent or another, its influence will infiltrate Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, and some Russian regions - beginning (naturally) with Kaliningrad.

Moscow is not worried. It is now entitled to a greatly expanded bureaucratic presence in the Belgian capital. The future council, where "Russia will sit somewhere between Spain and Portugal" according to Lord Robertson, will employ a number of functionaries and advisers. According to preliminary reports, the team will handle virtually everything - from considering the challenges of the 21st century to joint searches for terrorists and drug barons. There are other international bodies already handling these matters, but who cares? The range of Russia-NATO contacts will grow enormously.

The UN Charter still recognizes Russia as a victor in World War II and legalizes its nuclear arsenals. NATO is not going to give privileges such as these to Russia. On the contrary, under its charter and in accordance with the will of its leaders, the Alliance will do everything in its power to have Russia cut back its deterrent weapons as soon as possible. All this will be done under the slogan of strategic stability and non-proliferation of mass destruction weapons, issues Moscow itself will have to handle within the Council of 20. We do not know what the US and NATO have planned for Russia. Judging by the scale of preparations, however, their plans are considerable. The world may undergo dramatic changes by the end of the year.

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