#12
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
June 11, 2002
Russia and Ukraine vie for the title of favorite associate in the East
The "Russian threat" seems to remain the main fear of some NATO countries
Author: Marina Kalashnikova
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]

THE ANGLO-AMERICAN NUCLEUS OF NATO IS MOVING TOWARD GLOBAL CONTROL, USING THE SLOGAN OF COMBATING TERRORISM AS A PRETEXT. IN SETTING OUT ITS NEW GLOBAL OBJECTIVES, NATO HAS NOT FORGOTTEN ABOUT ITS TRADITIONAL REGIONAL CONCERNS. MEANWHILE, UKRAINE IS AHEAD OF RUSSIA IN COOPERATION WITH NATO.

There can be no doubt that NATO is steadily expanding on the global scale. It even instituted the so-called NATO Twenty, to create the illusion of fully-fledged partnership with Russia and to appease Moscow's unpredictable response to the status quo and particularly to NATO's planned expansion. Until now, NATO has always discussed with Moscow its own actions outside its traditional zone of responsibility only in the form of consultations, and only with regard to specific instances. The recent meeting of NATO defense ministers finally admitted this strategy. In this regard, it was a sensation.

NATO Secretary General George Robertson says that from now on NATO will send its troops to fight terrorism "wherever it is necessary." Five or six mobile groups will be formed, and a system of strategic transportation established (transport aviation, a network of air force bases, and other infrastructure). The coalition contingent of ground forces intended for operations around the world will be doubled. The units and formations will be airlifted to occupy whole regions and countries, not merely strike at the enemy from the air or from the sea. This much is stipulated by the program of development to 2008. In this way, the Anglo-American nucleus of the Alliance is moving toward global control, using the slogan of combating terrorism as a pretext.

Central Asia is the major arena for implementing this concept; it has been the major arena for months now. The other day, the status of the US contingent was raised. Media reports say the contingent is now 7,000 strong.

Meanwhile, other countries of the region are trying to use the Anglo-American presence to their benefit as well. Taking into account the interests of the United States and Britain, the leaders of India and Pakistan resolved to try to take advantage of the situation. India took part in a ten-day naval exercise together with the United States in late May. Responding to this rapprochement, and referring to the conflict with India, Pakistan threatened to withdraw its troops from the border with Afghanistan; troops posted there at Washington's request. All these developments led to a series of visits by high- ranking American and British envoys to the region.

Observers in New Delhi and Islamabad comment that while hoping to ease tension and cool down emotions, leaders of the United States tried to divert some of India's and Pakistan's demands to Moscow. This was one of the central motives of the Asian security summit in Almaty, Kazakhstan. It should be noted, however, that Moscow was benevolently permitted to partake in crisis-management only, not in basking in triumph as a peacekeeper. The latter is a prerogative of the United States, and had better remain undisputed.

For the time being, the struggle between Russia and Ukraine for NATO's benevolence is less violent. Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said in Brussels that Russian ministries and departments are prepared to send teams of delegates to no less than half of NATO committees. This scale is beyond Kiev's capacities. On the other hand, Ukraine is ahead of Russia in the sphere of direct military cooperation with NATO. A meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Commission that took place at the same time as the NATO session resolved to begin work on a treaty "on the status of recipient nation". When signed, the document will make Ukrainian airfields and airspace available to NATO, long before Ukraine itself joins the Alliance. Ivanov, speaking in Brussels, could only counter this (ineffectively) by saying that Moscow was prepared to allocate Russian transport planes for NATO troops.

In setting out its new global objectives, NATO has not forgotten about its traditional regional concerns. Minutes of the Brussels meeting indicate that "nuclear deterrence and defense" remain the fundamental strategy. As for whom this is meant to deter, Czech Defense Minister Jaroslaw Tvrdik made a revealing slip of the tongue - attributing the purchase of Swedish Grippen fighters to the same old "Russian threat".

Such friction, and the Kremlin's refusal to condone NATO expansion into the Baltic states, still provide Moscow with an excuse to ignore the NATO summit in Prague this November. On the other hand, the Russian-Ukrainian competition may force President Vladimir Putin to reconsider his options and attend the summit. (Translated by A. Ignatkin)

BACK TO THE TOP    #210 CONTENTS    NEXT SECTION