>From berezovsky-owned business paper Kommersant. "Kommersant" means
"entrepreneur."
Chris Doss The Russia Journal ------------------ Kommersant May 15, 2002 THE VALUE OF THE QUESTION Washington decided that Russia's presence in NATO would do no harm Author: Leonid Gankin [from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html] THE REYKJAVIK SUMMIT WAS DEVOTED TO ESTABLISHING A NEW MECHANISM OF COOPERATION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND NATO. RUSSIA - WHICH HAD GREAT HOPES FOR THIS SUMMIT - WAS SOMEWHAT DISAPPOINTED WITH THE OUTCOME. THE PROPOSAL TO IMPROVE COOPERATION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND NATO DID NOT ORIGINATE IN MOSCOW.
"The start of a new era."
"A historic turning point for the West."
Russia has "practically become a NATO member."
That is how Western leaders have described the decisions made in Reykjavik on establishing a new mechanism of cooperation between Moscow and Brussels. In reality, Russia - which had great hopes for this summit - was somewhat disappointed with the outcome.
Moscow had every reason to hope for deeper integration into the structure of the alliance. Since September 11, Russia has proved that it can be a reliable and effective partner for the West. The significance of NATO, on the contrary, has been devalued by the inability of the European allies of the United States to join the anti-terrorism campaign. And the Americans have realized that they can get by without NATO at crucial moments, without its political or military support. So Washington decided that Russia's presence in NATO would do no harm.
Moreover, the proposal to improve cooperation between Russia and NATO did not originate in Moscow. The idea was first expressed by British Prime Minister Tony Blair. This was supposed to serve as a painkiller for Russia, relieving the pain of the forthcoming NATO expansion, including admission of the Baltic states, which Russia opposes. After this summit, it is possible to say that Russia is sort of a NATO member... in a way.
Exactly what "full-scale cooperation" will imply is quite another matter. A matter of which issues will be considered within the framework of the Twenty, and which will remain under the jurisdiction of the NATO member states. At the start of the year the list of issues to be discussed with Russia's participation was longer than the final list approved at the summit. Then NATO somehow took a harder line. Brussels, in particular, did not agree that Russia should participate in the decision-making process for NATO policy on post-Soviet territory. But as recently as March, NATO Secretary General George Robertson promised to give Moscow this right. Perhaps NATO realized that Russia had no choice - and decided to turn the screws. As a result, only terrorism and regulation of local conflicts will be discussed by the Twenty.
Now the alliance likes to say that there has been a breakthrough in its relations with Russia. And it is not in Moscow's interests to deny that. Some would say that Russia has sold its agreement to NATO expansion for too low a price. But were there any alternatives? (Translated by Daria Brunova)