Russian President Putin Snubs Sarkozy After French Poll Victory By Henry Meyer, Bloomberg, 8 May 2007
Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to congratulate French President-elect Nicolas Sarkozy almost two days after his poll win. Analysts said relations between the two nations may worsen under the new French leader. [so much the better] Sarkozy still hasn't heard from Putin, his spokesman Franck Louvrier said today by telephone in Paris. The Kremlin press service said it wasn't aware of any message of congratulations. U.S. President George W. Bush, U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair and German Chancellor Angela Merkel all congratulated Sarkozy on the night of the May 6 election after it was clear he had won. "Russia is sending a signal to Sarkozy that it is not happy with his election victory,'' said Yevgeny Volk, an analyst in Moscow for the Washington-based Heritage Foundation. Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant who fled to France to escape Communist rule, signaled during the election campaign that he would take a tougher line toward Putin than his predecessor Jacques Chirac. Sarkozy said in February that France can't remain silent about killings in Chechnya. Human rights groups have accused Russian forces of torture and extra-judicial killings of civilians in the war-ravaged southern republic. The end of Chirac's presidency deprives Putin of another close ally in Europe, following the defeats of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in 2005 and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi last year. "Under Chirac, there was a triangular partnership that doesn't exist anymore,'' said Vyacheslav Nikonov, a political analyst in Moscow, who advises the Kremlin. He was referring to the Putin-Chirac-Schroeder alliance that opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and remained close thereafter. Relations between Russia and the European Union worsened in recent months amid EU concerns about Putin curbing democracy in Russia and his more assertive foreign policy. A dispute between Russia and Estonia over the relocation of a Red Army statue from the capital Tallinn prompted NATO and the EU to condemn Russia's harassment of Estonian diplomats in Moscow. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
