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#7
European US Allies Reportedly Tried to 'Blackmail' Russia Into Siding With US
Der Spiegel (Germany)
April 7, 2003
Unattributed report: "Call for Changing Sides"
Last week European US allies tried in Strasbourg to pull Russia to the side
of the warring "coalition of the willing" with a dubious offer. Just
hours before the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, which represents 45
national parliaments, planned to vote on a resolution on Chechnya, Russian
delegation head Dmitriy Rogosin received a hint from the ranks of the European
People's Party, EPP: the West would soften or even rescind the imminent
condemnation of Moscow's policy in Chechnya, the European Christian Democrats
promised, if the Kremlin finally ceased condemning the US-British war in Iraq.
Rogosin, head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Russian State Duma and
President Vladimir Putin's representative, confirmed to Der Spiegel that
representatives of Great Britain, of one "Mediterranean state," and
one "large east European state" had acted as mediators. However, he
rejected the idea as a "dirty deal" and "impudent
blackmail."
The result: not only did the Council adopt the harshest resolution on
Chechnya in a long time, but it now also demands the establishment of a
"tribunal" to investigate war crimes in the separatist republic in the
Caucasus. It is Moscow's fault that in Chechnya "an atmosphere of
impunity" and favorable conditions for new violations of human rights have
developed. Hostage-taking, murder, and illegal arrests continue. Council members
think that the recent referendum is just "self-deception."
Rogosin's delegation left the hall during the meeting. There will be no
Chechnya tribunal, and in the future no Council of Europe politicians will be
permitted to enter the war zone at the Caucasus, the Duma official threatened.
In general, "after this idiotic decision," Rogosin wants to have the
issue of Chechnya no longer dealt with by the Council of Europe -- and reduce
Russia's contributions of $25 million per year by half.
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