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RUSSIAN EXPERT ABOUT NATO'S FUTURE

MOSCOW, September 19th, 2002. /From a RIA Novosti correspondent/. - The future of NATO depends not upon the number of new member states but upon a new model of relationship with Russia.

This viewpoint was expressed by a Russian expert during an international conference "Russia and NATO: From the Image of Enemy to the Image of Partner", that started on Thursday in Moscow.

At estimates of Alexander Konovalov, President of Strategic Estimate Institute, military operations in Kosovo and Afghanistan proved that "the Alliance had not only became meaningless for the USA but had lost its enemy and its mission in the world as well".

"The USA, thinks the Russian expert, tends to act unilaterally in the world and is sure that the state has all necessary military and economic power and political will to act without NATO's assistance.

According to Mr. Konovalov, the fact that NATO is not "the only player" in the world contributes to a better image of NATO in Russia. Mr. Konovalov emphasized that NATO "had moved from the central scene of political debates." Improving stability in the Russian Federation as well as changes in the world after the 11th of September have also contributed to a better image of NATO among Russians, stressed Alexander Konovalov.

A conference between experts from Russia and a number of European countries including Hungary, Ukraine, Lithuania and Estonia was organized by the Center of Political and International Research and by the "Servicemen for Democracy and Humanism" public organization under the auspices of NATO's Information Bureau in Moscow.

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