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Weapon of Mass Irritation
// Europe is enraged at Dmitry Medvedev’s address
The West is enraged at the statement in Dmitry Medvedev’s address that Moscow is ready to deploy short-range Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad in response to the U.S. deploying AMD elements in Europe. The EU calls the Russian government’s plans “unpleasant surprise” and “blackmailing”. Even Russia’s traditional partners condemned it this time: German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called Mr Medvedev’s words “the wrong message at the wrong moment”. Moreover, the EU and NATO are preparing for responding to Moscow’s “aggressive” actions.
Weapon of Mass Irritation
Europe is enraged at Dmitry Medvedev’s address
The West is enraged at the statement in Dmitry Medvedev’s address that Moscow is ready to deploy short-range Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad in response to the U.S. deploying AMD elements in Europe. The EU calls the Russian government’s plans “unpleasant surprise” and “blackmailing”. Even Russia’s traditional partners condemned it this time: German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called Mr Medvedev’s words “the wrong message at the wrong moment”. Moreover, the EU and NATO are preparing for responding to Moscow’s “aggressive” actions.
Dressing-down
Yesterday Russian President Dmitry Medvedev became one of the key newsmakers in the West. Abstracts from his first state of the nation address were cited by many European papers. Their attention was mainly drawn by the part concerning Russia’s possible reaction to the U.S. deploying AMD elements in Europe. “Moscow playing muscles”, “Russia threats”, “Russia and Obama: Welcome to cold war” – these are the headlines of yesterday’s newspapers in Germany, Belgium, Austria and Britain.
European politicians also freely gave their peace of mind. European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner was the one to set the tone, “It’s a surprise to me, a not very pleasant one. Deploying missiles in Kaliningrad won’t contribute to improving security in Europe.”
Ms Ferrero-Waldner’s idea was supported in Prague, Warsaw, Vilnius and Riga. The Czech Republic’s Foreign Ministry called the Russian President’s statement “deplorable”. Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus said that the Russian President contradicts himself, “He speaks about willingness to jointly confront common challenges and moves his missiles to Kaliningrad to neutralize the U.S. AMD system.” His Latvian counterpart Valdis Zatlers called deploying missiles in the Baltic region “decrease in confidence”.
Finally, Warsaw negatively reacted to the prospect of Iskander missiles’ appearing in Kaliningrad. Poland will be its main target because it is there that Washington plans to deploy its ten AMD elements. According to Polish Foreign Office Chief Radoslav Sikorski, “Dmitry Medvedev’s statement is no friendly act.” “What worries us the most is that earlier we heard such rhetoric from generals, and now we hear it from the President when he delivers his keynote speech,” the Minister said. Chairman of the Polish Parliament Bronislav Komorovski was not that diplomatic, “Now that a new administration has come to power in the U.S., such statements only aggravate the situation. They resemble blackmailing, which no one approves of.”
Working out response
Apart from the Baltic states and Eastern Europe, Moscow has been criticized by its traditional allies. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called Mr Medvedev’s words “the wrong message at the wrong moment”. According to him, Russia should admit that no is the time to “restore relations between Russia and the U.S.”
However, the German Minister didn’t mean the transition of power in Washington alone. In a week Nice is going to play host to the Russia-EU summit, the first after the war in the Caucasus, where Moscow and Brussels are planning to resume talks about a new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA). The thing is, the developments in Georgia made the fissure within the EU even more palpable. At the EU September summit, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and the Czech Republic raised a question of imposing sanctions on Russia. They have recently lashed out at Moscow for its failing to fulfill the Medvedev-Sarkozy peace plan provisions. They sated that Russia’s troops haven’t been moved to the positions they occupied before the start of the conflict, which the document envisioned. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini later confessed that it took Old Europe much effort to persuade their EU colleagues to abandon their radical ideas.
Now that Moscow threatens to respond to the U.S. AMD system with military means, the position of Old Europe, which insists on normalizing relations with Russia, becomes vulnerable. The Presidents of Poland and Lithuania have already taken advantage of it. Lech Kaczyński and Valdas Adamkus have signed a joint declaration, which reads that under the present circumstances resuming talks with Russia is not reasonable. More to the point, yesterday Lithuania’s media published an article by Mr Adamkus, who argues that resuming talks with Moscow would only show the EU’s weakness to everyone. “It would be a catastrophe,” the Lithuanian leader warns.
It is EU Foreign Ministers who will decide on resuming talks with Russia – they will gather on Monday to discuss the matter. It depends on them whether the forthcoming Nice summit’s agenda will be constructive. “EU Foreign Office Chiefs will discuss fulfilling the Medvedev-Sarkozy peace plan provisions, and will try to work out a common stance towards Russia,” Estonian MP Marco Mikhelson told Kommersant. “Many people now wonder what is Russia’s foreign policy aim regarding the EU. What does Russia want? Develop relations or take the path that will leave it fewer chances to improve the situation? I couldn’t find the answer in Mr Medvedev’s address.”
NATO is also considering its response to Moscow. Yesterday the alliance’s Press Secretary Robert Pshel stated that “deploying Iskander missiles to Russia's Kaliningrad region won’t contribute to developing relations between NATO and Russia”. Kommersant found out that the alliance is going to take concrete measures to respond to Mr Medvedev’s statement. “Medvedev made a serious and aggressive statement. Moscow shouldn’t think that it will get away with it. No one has sought large-scale confrontation so far, but we are going to respond to the President’s words. We just need some time to analyze everything,” a high-ranking official with the Brussels HQ told Kommersant.
Aggression is the mother of order
European politicians seem to be disappointed with the new Russian President. “His foreign policy statements suggests that Putin’s hard line continues,” Mr Mikhelson told Kommersant. Benita Ferrero-Waldner doubts the probability of realizing Mr Medvedev’s initiative that Russia and the EU should elaborate a big treaty for Euro-Atlantic security, which will be the new world order’s foundations. “I wonder whether such statements comply with the new security strategy the Russian President advances,” Ms Ferrero-Waldner said.
However, Mr Medvedev’s current statements are in line with the model he outlined during his first with Russia’s diplomats in July. The head of state demanded that diplomats should be more aggressive in asserting Russia’s national interests. The recent developments, including the war in the Caucasus, the recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and plans to deploy military bases to these republics, point to the Kremlin’s following the line it has mapped out. The intention to deploy the short-range Iskander missiles to the Kaliningrad region is evidence of it, too. Under Vladimir Putin, Moscow only promised to react to the U.S. AMD elements in Europe, and Dmitry Medvedev is determined to bring about the pledge.
Nevertheless, Russian diplomats in charge of the relations with Europe, urge not to see the event as a tragedy. “The President’s words about deploying Iskanders should be treated as a warning of reciprocal measures in case the U.S. realizes its intention. Europe doubts whether it really needs the U.S. system. In my opinion, Barack Obama’s victory gives us hope that the previous administrations’ plans won’t be carried out. It means that our Iskanders will not necessarily appear in Kaliningrad,” Russian Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov told Kommersant. According to him, the new big treaty for Euro-Atlantic security shouldn’t be abandoned. On the contrary, the outlook for drafting it is even brighter. “I am sure that this initiative will be discussed at the Russia-EU summit, and during the first meeting of Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, which will take place at the Group of 20 summit on November 15.”
Vladimir Solovyov
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 07, 2008
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