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Russia Against NATO Expansion
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010217/wl/russia_defying_nato_1.html
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Saturday, February 17 1:30 AM ET
Russia Against NATO Expansion
By Deborah Seward, Associated Press writer
MOSCOW (AP) - For nearly a decade, ``partnership´´ was the
buzzword for Russia´s relations with NATO (news - web sites). Now that
venture is all but dead and the Kremlin is drawing a thick line to show
the Western alliance where it says its eastward expansion must stop.
The issue of further NATO enlargement, as well as Russian anger
over the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, have been overshadowed
recently by Russia's concern over U.S. plans to develop a national
missile defense system.
But when NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson starts a two-day
visit Monday, he will face a Russia that categorically rejects
membership of former Soviet republics in the alliance as a matter of
pride, principle - and policy.
Robertson recently said the ice age in relations between NATO and Russia
was over.
But for Russia it seems the thaw has barely begun and the mere
idea of the alliance including the three Baltic nations of Lithuania,
Latvia and Estonia, as proposed, has prompted a chilly response.
``There is a negative attitude toward further eastward expansion
among the political establishment, the military and the
population,´´ said Yevgeny Kozhokin, director of Russia´s
Institute for Strategic Studies.
``Russia could not accept NATO membership for the Baltic nations
under any circumstances. NATO does not sufficiently grasp this,´´
Kozhokin said.
Many Russians believe a new wave of NATO expansion would push Russia
further toward the periphery of Europe and force them to seek closer
ties with China and India, countries the Russians consider marginalized.
Former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov accused the United
States of ``ordering the music´´ for its NATO partners in order to
isolate Russia.
While many former Soviet bloc nations see NATO as a guarantee of their
political survival, for Russians NATO remains a potential threat to
their sovereignty.
``Relations with NATO are worse than ever. Yugoslavia shattered
the arguments that NATO is not an offensive alliance,´´ said Sergei
Karaganov, head of the influential Institute of Europe. ``This attitude
is prevalent.´´
Russia and NATO still talk, and there are areas in which
cooperation is successful.
Robertson intends to open a NATO information office in Moscow
during his visit, which will include talks on peacekeeping efforts,
Russia's military doctrine, the alliance's strategic concept and control
over armaments.
The tempo at which relations improve, however, ``will depend on
how NATO takes into account Russia´s interests,´´ Col. Gen. Leonid
Ivashov, head of the international cooperation department of the Russian
Defense Ministry, told reporters Friday.
Russian analysts say their country could not counter NATO
expansion into Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, which would bring the
alliance to within 100 miles of St. Petersburg and greatly reduce the
flight time for NATO aircraft to reach Russia.
``The second wave of expansion is a serious issue that could
strain relations,´´ Vladimir Baranovsky, deputy director of the
Institute of World Economy and International Relations, said. ``People
are thinking about it, but there really isn´t a good idea yet.´´
There is some belief in Moscow that NATO will realize the gravity
of Russia's objections and refrain from inviting the three Baltic
nations, a vital Russian economic outlet to the West and home to
hundreds of thousands of ethnic Russians.
``We don´t know how to get out of this situation, so there is
hope that NATO won´t go forward with it,´´ Karaganov said.
While Russia finally swallowed NATO membership for Poland, Hungary
and the Czech Republic, it fears that alliance expansion into the
Baltics would have an overwhelmingly negative impact, including
isolating the western Russian enclave in Kaliningrad.
``The Baltic ports are of enormous importance. Our economic
interests in the transportation infrastructure there are clear, and we
are interested in guarantees that the transit routes remain open to
us,´´ Kozhokin said.
Russian military officials have warned that their armed forces
would react were the Baltic nations to join NATO, but they aren't saying
what they would do.
``It´s absolutely clear that Russia can´t stop
expansion,´´ said Karaganov. ``But further expansion will mean the
possibility that Russia will be in some kind of no man´s land.´´
Copyright © 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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