----- Original Message ----- From: Blagovesta Doncheva <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, May 27, 2000 2:17 AM Subject: [STOPNATO] Russia Crawled Before NATO STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.COM http://www.independent.co.uk/news/World/Europe/2000-05/war250500.shtml Russians carpeted by Nato over war criminal By Stephen Castle in Brussels 25 May 2000 Russia apologised yesterday for its decision to hold talks with an indicted Yugoslav war criminal, after angry protests from Western politicians threatened to overshadow Nato's post-Kosovo rapprochement with Moscow. Igor Ivanov, the Russian foreign minister, said the five-day visit by the Yugoslav defence minister Dragoljub Ojdanic to Moscow earlier this month was the result of an internal mix-up and would not happen again. "This was prompted by an internal technical hitch between agencies and ministries, and measures are being taken so that this shall not be repeated," the Russian minister told a news conference at the Nato foreign ministers' conference in Florence. Earlier, the US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright went into a meeting with Mr Ivanov, she said she would make it clear that is was "inappropriate for an indicted war criminal to be hosted in Moscow". One senior alliance diplomat said he was outraged about the invitation which, he said, "sends the wrong message to Kosovo". The Nato foreign ministers' meeting was supposed to mark the normalisation of relations between the alliance and Russia after a 12-month cold war over the Kosovo bombing. Technically, Russia is required under UN Security Council resolutions to arrest war criminals who enter its territory, and Moscow's decision to ignore international protocol underlines the continuing gulf between the two sides over the Balkans. But the alliance was careful to balance its criticism with more positive comments about Russia, partly because Moscow is seen in many European capitals as the key to achieving any change of regime in Belgrade. With repeated attempts by President Slobodan Milosevic to destabilise the West's strategy for the Balkans, Europe is devoting much attention to wooing the new Russian president, Vladimir Putin, hoping he will exert more constructive pressure on Serbia. "Nato's relations with Russia are getting back on track," Lord Robertson, Nato's Secretary General, said in his opening speech. Mr Ivanov's presence in Florence was a signal "that Russia intends to cooperate with the alliance in looking for solutions in the face of security challenges facing Europe", he said. "Of course, we're not going to agree on everything and some of the talk is going to be tough, but we are talking." The agenda for the the two-day meeting also included detailed discussion on Europe's plans to construct its new military crisis intervention force of around 60,000 men. Concern over the EU plans is strongest among the among the six non-EU Nato allies, including Turkey, who are worried about their degree of influence over the venture. They have been offered extensive consultation, before and after decisions are made, but they were told non-EU members cannot be given a part in decision-making. One Nato diplomat said the EU defence force would need to rely, at least in the short term, on Nato assets which "can only be provided with the consensus of all the allies" including Turkey. "The whole enterprise could grind to a halt if we do not tie these institutions together," he added. The US, which has reservations over an autonomous European defence capability, is anxious to see more concrete signs that European countries are upgrading military spending to meet the new objectives. Policy-makers are considering the potential for EU intervention in particularly African conflicts such as Sierra Leone, providing all 15 European member states agree. -- Join the most exciting community of women on the web! iVillage.com's FREE membership gets you private email, your own home page, special discounts and sweepstakes, and dozens of problem-solving tools. http://www.ivillage.com/frame/join_email.html ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ______________________________________________________________________ Advertisement: 15% off Ashford Collection jewelry for Mother's Day! Mom will love these gorgeous pieces handpicked by our expert jewelry buyers - now 15% off and shipped FedEx overnight FREE! Spoiled as a child? Return the favor - get her gift at Ashford.com. http://on.linkexchange.com/?ATID=27&AID=1231
