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'[C]almly negative', Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Alexander Yakovenko on further NATO enlargement, October 29

'Alexander Yakovenko, the Official Spokesman of Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Answers Questions from Russian Media Regarding the Upcoming Visit to Moscow of NATO Secretary General George Robertson,' October 29, 2003

Question: In relation to the upcoming visit to Moscow of NATO Secretary General George Robertson, please comment on the state of Russian relations with this organization.

Answer: The working visit to Moscow on October 29-30 of NATO Secretary General George Robertson bears out the stable character of the political relations existing between Russia and NATO, based on the Rome Declaration, "Russia-NATO Relations: A New Quality." It will enable holding a keen exchange of views on the most topical issues of international security in the Euro-Atlantic region and analyzing the results of practical interaction between Russia and NATO in the implementation of the Work Program of the Russia-NATO Council (RNC) for the current year.

In the year and a half since the signing of the Rome Declaration the Russia-NATO Council has developed into a full-format mechanism for cooperation, consultations, joint decision making, and joint actions. As a result Russia-NATO relations have been raised to a qualitatively new level, and contribute to the strengthening of trust and mutual understanding. This helps improve the political climate in the Euro-Atlantic space and build a more secure future for all the European states.

Question: What are the topical issues of the Russia-NATO dialogue?

Answer: Within the Russia-NATO Council, a constant political dialogue is being maintained on security issues, the problems and crises that arise are being considered, and optimal common approaches are being developed to their resolution. One of the permanent topics of the political dialogue is the situation in Afghanistan. We presume that the building up of all the forms of cooperation in the RNC format increases the possibilities for Russia and NATO to act jointly in a quest for answers to new challenges and threats.

Question: What could be said in confirmation of the effectiveness of the new mechanism of interaction between Russia and NATO?

Answer: It can be stated that substantial useful work has already been carried out within the Russia-NATO Council that aids in the transformation of the Council into a significant element of the European security architecture. The joint guideline documents of the RNC, in particular on the problems of the Balkans, help promote stability in Southeastern Europe.

Useful practical Russia-NATO cooperation is actively developing. Concrete results have been obtained in the joint work on antiterrorist problems. Possibilities are being explored for Russia-NATO interaction in the field of crisis response. Systematic preparation is under way for holding RNC procedural training exercises in development of the basic concept of joint peacekeeping operations. Russia and NATO are engaged in an in-depth and keen dialogue on major issues of preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery vehicles; they are exploring the possibility of real cooperation in the area of theater antimissile defense. Interesting projects are also being implemented with respect to emergency civil response and elimination of consequences of natural and technogenic catastrophes.

We note the real shift in military cooperation between Russia and NATO. The chief objective in this sector is to soon arrive at working programs that will contribute to increasing the military compatibility of Russia and NATO and holding joint training exercises, starting with command and staff exercises.

Question: What problems may arise in Russian relations with NATO in connection with the new phase of expansion of the Alliance, and how could they be smoothed over?

Answer: Admittedly, areas still remain in relations with NATO where our stances and views diverge. This concerns, in particular, the expansion of the Alliance. Its second wave is in the stage of practical realization. Our attitude to this process is calmly negative. We do not intend to dramatize the situation that is evolving, but at the same time we are not going to remain detached onlookers.

We feel that the pursuit by the Alliance of a line on expansion jeopardizes the fundamental all-European agreements on military security. Of basic importance in this regard will be the need that NATO's evolution, including its military potential, should strictly conform to the legitimate individual and collective security requirements, as well as to the logic of OSCE commitments and should not lead to the temptation to place the interests of the Alliance above those of Europe as a whole.

In relation to the new wave of expansion the question of the observance by the Alliance of its military restraint obligations in accordance with the Russia-NATO Founding Act is a definite urgency. We continue to accentuate before our partners the problems relating to the fact that the three Baltic states and Slovenia are not parties to the CFE Treaty, and that the arms limitation regimes do not operate on their territories.

At the RNC foreign and defense ministers' meeting in Madrid and Brussels this June, the Alliance basically confirmed that the political guarantees of military restraint apply also to the states joining NATO. This, however, is not enough. The situation can be called normal when these states assume obligations under the Adapted CFE Treaty and it will come into force itself.

At the same time it is obvious that unless the ratification of the Adapted CFE Treaty is launched soon, then after the official admission of the new members to the Alliance in May 2004 there may arise not only a crisis situation in the system of all-European control over conventional arms, but also a complication of relations between Russia and NATO.

Question: How will you comment on George Robertson's stepping down from his post soon?

Answer: As is known, George Robertson's term as the NATO Secretary General expires. His successor is known. We highly value the personal contribution of Robertson to the emergence of the Russia-NATO Council and to the formation of a new quality in relations between Russia and the Alliance in the "at 20" format. We hope for the priority character of Russia-NATO interaction to be preserved and for political dialogue and practical cooperation between Russia and NATO to develop dynamically.

Source: Russian Embassy to the United States, http://www.russianembassy.org.

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