I've saic it once and I'll say it again: The "war on terror" has been a bonanza for Russia.
Chris Doss The Russia Journal ---------------------------- NATO leaders embrace Russia as junior partner in alliance Eds: INSERTS 11th graf with Schroeder comment. AP Photos XCG102, XCG107-109 By TOM RAUM Associated Press Writer
ROME (AP) - NATO, an alliance set up more than a half century ago for the Cold War containment of Moscow, formally accepted its old enemy as a junior partner Tuesday.
"Two former foes are now joined as partners," U.S. President George W. Bush said as 19 NATO partners and Russian President Vladimir Putin took turns signing an agreement creating a new NATO-Russia Council.
"We have come a long way from confrontation to dialogue, and from confrontation to cooperation," Putin said in accepting the new role.
Under the new arrangement, Russia will have more authority in the new body than in an earlier, less formal arrangement set up several years ago to try to nudge Moscow closer to the West.
Even so, its future involvement will be limited to certain areas. They include crisis management, peacekeeping and such military areas as air defense, search-and-rescue operations and joint exercises.
The 20 leaders sat around a circular table and remained seated as the documents were passed around for them to sign.
"The significance of this meeting is difficult to overestimate," Putin said earlier, noting that a few years ago, such a role for Russia "would have been, simply, unthinkable, whereas today it has become a reality."
"Being realists, we must remember that relations between Russia and the North Atlantic alliance have been historically far from straightforward," Putin said. Even though Russia was not admitted as a full partner and has a limited role, "we must understand this Rome Declaration ... is only a beginning," he said.
Leader after leader cited Sept. 11, and the lingering terror threat, as a catalyst for new cohesion and determination among NATO members. "The attacks ... made clear that the new dangers of our age threaten all nations, including Russia," Bush said. "The months since have made clear that by working together against these threats, we multiply our effectiveness."
Putin agreed, and mentioned a blast during a holiday parade in the Russian region of Dagestan on May 9, killing 41 people. Russia blames Islamic extremists for the attack.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Putin had laid the foundation for NATO-Russia cooperation through his "far-sighted and determined policy after the terror attacks of Sept. 11."
NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson, who will be chairman of the new council, opened the session, declaring "this gathering represents the hope of a better, saner future."
He said he considers the council a real breakthrough and expressed hope that it would "not just deliberate but take decisive actions. ...There is a common enemy out there."
Bush, just days after he and Putin signed an agreement slashing their nuclear arsenals by two-thirds over 10 years, hailed the transformation of Russia from Cold War rival to friend.
"Two former foes are now joined as partners, overcoming 50 years of division and a decade of uncertainty," Bush said.
The leaders formalized their new arrangement amid the tightest of security at the seaside Pratica di Mare air base. Concerned about terrorist attacks, Italy deployed 15,000 security forces and mounted robust air and sea defenses to protect the 20 world leaders.
Bush, meeting privately with Robertson beforehand, praised the alliance for recognizing that a united Europe is "more likely to be achieved by welcoming Russia west."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair also welcomed Russia's new role in a front-page article for Tuesday's Corriere della Sera, the Italian daily.
He said the new arrangement "shows how the world has evolved in the past 15 years." Still, Blair noted that Russia is not a full-fledged NATO member "and won't have the right of veto."
Russia's participation comes as NATO looks forward to expanding further in November and as it ponders its role in an age when Russia is no longer an adversary, but a friend.
"There is no longer any confrontation. There is no longer any nightmare scenario of nuclear scenarios," said Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi. "We have a much more serene future in front of us."
Russia will have more authority in the new body than in an earlier, less formal, arrangement set up several years ago to try to nudge Moscow closer to the West.
"We welcome today this new step toward the emergence of a more united, more harmonious continent, in which Russia can play the role of a great nation which it has never ceased to be," French President Jacques Chirac said.
Despite Russia's increased authority in the new body, its future involvement will be limited to certain areas, such as crisis management, peacekeeping and military areas like air defense, search-and-rescue operations and joint exercises.
NATO and Russia will decide only on those issues on which they can find consensus. More contentious issues will be left off their agenda, and NATO will keep a free hand in setting and implementing policy.
Tuesday's gathering brought Putin and Bush together for the second time in a week. Bush spent three days in Russia last week as part of a four-nation European tour, visiting both Moscow and St. Petersburg. In Moscow last week, the two leaders agreed to slash their strategic nuclear arsenals to one-third of the present levels over the next decade.
Bush began the day Tuesday with a visit with Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, and the U.S. leader plans to visit Pope John Paul II after the NATO summit before heading home
The United States counts Russia as a key ally in the present anti-terrorism war - just as it was a key ally in World War II. In advance of Tuesday's ceremony, NATO opened a military mission in Moscow on Monday.
The new council is to replace a consultative body set up in May 1997 to ease Moscow's alarm over NATO's plans to include some of Russia's Soviet-era allies and neighbors.
The rupture over the NATO bombing campaign in Yugoslavia undermined the earlier effort.
NATO will meet in November in Prague and likely expand by six or seven Eastern European nations, some of which border Russia.
The last time NATO expanded was in 1999, when Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic joined. That expansion was approved only after long, contentious debate in the U.S. Senate and elsewhere.
Some European allies have expressed concern that the Bush administration sees NATO as increasingly irrelevant. U.S. commanders were frustrated in having to coordinate every step with NATO partners in the 1999 Kosovo war. In the Afghanistan campaign, NATO essentially sat on the sidelines.