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Russia, Britain Sort it Out
// London will neither make it up nor quarrel with Moscow
Improvement of the Russia-Britain relations is postponed for the time being. Kommersant learned that British MPs are strongly concerned over the situation around TNK-BP company, and they have inquired to Great Britain’s Foreign Office for explanations. The scandal around BP fell in time with the publication in London of the Foreign Office’s annual report on human rights record in the world, where Russia is listed among the 22 countries that raise concern. Meanwhile, London is not going to give a symmetric answer to Moscow’s recent thrusts, at least not until the first meeting between Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Dmitry Medvedev.
Britain Attracts
Last week, the Russian authorities, for the first time since the last year’s exacerbation in the Russia-Britain relations, have decided at last to settle the crisis. Russia’s President-elect Dmitry Medvedev gave his first interview in that capacity to the Financial Times (FT). The president’s staff assured that Medvedev’s choice is not due to political advisability at all. “Dmitry Medvedev is friends with the FT’s editor-in-chief. They made each other’s acquaintance two years ago at the Forum in Davos. That is the primary reason why the FT was chosen, although there were many other applications,” said a source in the Kremlin.
However, the interview to the British newspaper was apparently aimed at removing the tensions between Moscow and London. Russia Today TV channel, created for promoting Russia’s image abroad, explained in its video that choosing the FT means the new president’s intention to make it up with London.
Yet, the interview published on Tuesday received controversial feedback in Great Britain. “In his interview to the FT, Medvedev said many important and inspiring things about Russia’s economy growth in the sense of raising the citizens’ living standard, about the necessity of democratic system and law supremacy, about his adherence to balanced foreign policy, and the intention to defend Russia’s interests in a non-confrontation way. It is very good that Medvedev believes it is in Russia’s interests to restore full-scale cooperation with Great Britain without any preliminary conditions,” said Roderick Braithwaite, former British ambassador to Russia. However, the ex-ambassador thinks the negative response was triggered by the accusation against the British Council. Answering the FT’s question whether Medvedev believes that the British Council is engaged in espionage, Russia’s president-elect said: “I am not the head of the security services but at the same time the information that from time to time appears in the press and the reports that I get as one of the leaders of the country show that there is a problem with this. But this is not very surprising because these types of organizations are traditionally used for the collection of information.”
This was Medvedev’s statement which caused negative reaction in Britain. “No one in our country, including me, believes that the British Council is engaged in espionage,” said Braithwaite.
Britain Criticizes
Medvedev was also asked about the TNK-BP affair. “As far as I understand this is not about a state crime but about a crime in the economic sphere. Unfortunately this is a common thing,” he replied. British politicians gave a more emotionally-colored response to the affair due to which 148 employees of TNK-BP were withdrawn to London on Tuesday due to visa problems. “I cannot get off my mind the thought that it is a political decision which is obviously not useful for Russia,” said Gisela Stuart, Labour MP and member of the House of Commons’ Foreign Affairs Committee. “The British Government should demand [from Russia.—Kommersant] strict adherence to the law.” She added that she will demand official explanations of what has happened.
David Wilshire, Conservative MP and a member of the House of Commons, said: “I discussed the British Council issue with leading British and Russian politicians. The main thing is to find a decision which would suit both parties. It includes BP as well.”
Great Britain’s Foreign Office said they do not give comments on specific instances of non-issuing the visas for British citizens, although they added they sometimes ask their foreign counterparts for explanations. Foreign Office spokesman could not specify whether the inquiry was sent to Russia’s Foreign Ministry or Federal Migration Service this time. Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry assured they have received no letters concerning BP employees, “because everything is transparent there, and needs no fault-finding.”
Anyway, Braithwaite thinks that “simultaneous police raids in TNK-BP offices and the employees’ visa problems produce very bad impression”. “The best way to restore the relations is to stop putting groundless pressure on the British Council, for instance,” said Stuart. “I am very disappointed by the way Russia’s authorities treat the British Council and BP.”
New claims to TNK-BP’s employees and the publication of Medvedev’s interview fell in time with the publication of the Foreign Office’s annual report on human rights record in the world. The report was to come out long ago, but fell in time with another Russia-Britain exacerbation, and became a response to Medvedev’s optimistic interview. The report lists Russia among the 22 countries that “raise concern”, along with North Korea, Zimbabwe, Iraq, Iran, Cuba, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Belarus. It says that “the last 18 months witnessed the reduction of democratic space in Russia”. The report expresses concern over the Duma election in December 2007. It also mentions the opposition marches, the new version of elections law that banned a number of political parties from participation in the election process, and says that punitive psychiatry is still used in Russia.
The report states that Russia had press freedom limitation and attacks on journalists in 2007, while state TV channels kept giving an extremely narrow coverage of events. The report also notes the increase in violence against ethnic, racial or religious minorities. The document’s significant part is devoted to North Caucasus situation, where it says out-of-court murders, kidnappings and tortures are practiced. At the same time, the Foreign Office does not mention the British Council’s difficulties at all. On the other hand, Medvedev’s interview to the FT hardly touches upon any of the issues mentioned in the report.
Britain Retreats
The same day as Medvedev’s interview was published, Interfax news agency reported that British Ambassador Tony Brenton is to be withdrawn from Russia soon. According to an unnamed source, “the British Government’s plans to replace Ambassador to Russia Anthony Brenton should be regarded in context of Britain’s readiness to normalize its relations with Russia.”
The statement caused a storm of indignation in London. The Foreign Office said that ambassadors are usually replaced around every three years, while Brenton has been working in Moscow for four years already. So, his replacement is not a political decision, but a normal rotation system. Apparently, Brenton’s withdrawal has been under consideration in London since last year. Yet, the thrusts against him prolonged his term in Moscow. The Foreign Office decided it ill-timed to replace the ambassador at the height of a diplomatic scandal. “I cannot imagine the British Government want Russia to believe that Ambassador Brenton was sacrificed for the sake of improving the bilateral relations,” said Braithwaite.
According to some sources, the ambassador is likely to be replaced in the year’s second half, not until Dmitry Medvedev’s and Gordon Brown’s first meeting, which might take place at the G8 summit in Japan. Until then, the British authorities are unlikely to undertake any demonstrative steps in relation to Russia, so as not to deprive themselves of a chance to reach agreement with Russia’s new president. “I think the relations will improve. What is happening in Russia now, I’m inclined to regard as normal in the given circumstances,” said Wilshire. “And I would not speak of our tensions as of a large-scale crisis. It is rather one of those which happen from time to time,” he added.
By the way, the British Council’s press service said yesterday that, within the framework of its program for restructuring its activities in Europe, it reduces financing its work in Russia. For more effective work, the Council will “re-direct the investments from supporting costly infrastructure to working with partners.”
Mikhail Zygar
John McCain Offends Russia Once Again
U.S. Republican nomination race leader Senator John McCain delivered his campaign speech on foreign policy, in which he sharply criticized Russia. Speaking in the International Relations Council in Los-Angeles, McCain called Russia “revanchist” and repeated his old statement on the necessity to exclude it from the G8. He said it is necessary to “oppose the threats coming from revanchist Russia” and to alter the G8. “We should begin with providing guarantee that the G8, a group of eight highly industrialized countries, once again becomes the club of leading market democracies. It should include Brazil and India, but should exclude Russia,” said McCain. In his speech, he also urged to strengthen NATO’s solidarity in response to Russia’s actions. “Instead of putting up with Russia’s nuclear arm-twisting or hacker attacks, Western states should make it clear that NATO’s solidarity, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, is indivisible, and that the organization’s doors remain open for all democracies that adhere to defending freedom,” said McCain.
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 27, 2008
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