CRIME, GEOPOLITICS AND THE BLACK SEA

Kyiv Post, Ukraine
Aug 30 2007

Since antiquity, the Black Sea Region (BSR) has united its littoral
states and served as a crossroads. It forms an invaluable cultural,
political and economic sea triangle connecting the nations of the
West, Greater Middle East and Eurasia. The dissolution of the Soviet
Union and the enlargement processes of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization and the European Union connect the West to the BSR in
an unprecedented manner.

This article presents the Newly Independent States in the Black Sea
Region (NISBSR) as a security complex and new front for combating
threats to international security caused by corruption and
transnational crime.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Empire, states in the BSR
inherited a political criminal nexus and a common legacy of a lack of
respect for the rule of law, absence of civil society, a large criminal
underworld and shadow economy, endemic corruption and a demoralized
law enforcement and legal apparatus, satisfying the preconditions for
the development of a serious and sophisticated organized crime problem.

Whereas some states have successfully entered the Euro-Atlantic
integration process, Moscow’s influence on the strategic territories
of its former empire must not be underestimated. Parts of the former
Soviet nomenklatura have been linked to separatism and transnational
crime in the BSR. The effects of human trafficking, contraband product
trade and illegal arms trade have an international butterfly effect
on human, economic, territorial and financial security.

Today, the Black Sea’s shores host separatist conflicts referred to
as "criminal black holes." Moscow may not have only backed breakaway
territories in Moldova (Trans-Dniester) and Georgia (Abkhazia and
South Ossetia); some claim these separatist sentiments are orchestrated
and maintained by Moscow’s policies.

Moscow’s role in Azerbaijan and Armenia (Nagorno-Karabakh) and
separatism in Ukraine (Sevastopol, Crimea) should also be considered.

The criminalization and corruption of the NISBSR impede the state’s
de facto control over its territory and population.

Russia’s armed forces and political-economic companies like [Russia’s
state gas monopoly – Ed. Note] Gazprom increase its power in the NISBSR
to the detriment of democratic security. To understand separatism in
the NISBSR, the symbiotic relationship between transnational organized
crime and Russia’s geopolitical interests must be considered.

Gazprom’s character is not only illustrated by its consideration
to supply illegitimate Trans-Dniester with gas supplies separately
from Moldova. Western law enforcement and intelligence agencies have
suspected relations between Gazprom, Russian security services and
companies linked to [Ukrainian-born – Ed. note] Semyon Mogilevich,
[an alleged mobster wanted by the FBI on money-laundering and
racketeering charges – Ed. note].

A [Ukrainian State Security Service – Ed. Note] SBU spokesperson
stated: "The probe is part of a broader investigation into suspected
money-laundering, smuggling and tax evasion stemming from the Turkmen
gas trade."

The US Justice Department identified Mogilevich as the leader of
over 300 criminals, operating in more than 30 countries, involved in
murder, extortion, trafficking in women for prostitution, smuggling,
money-laundering, and bank and securities fraud and, in numerous
countries, the corruption of public officials.

Regional governmental organizations and experts acknowledge the need
for a common approach to transnational organized crime. In 1995,
the Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) identified
transnational crime as a serious threat to the region’s economic
stability and security.

The 2002 Agreement among the Governments of the BSEC Participating
States on Cooperation in Combating Crime, particularly in its organized
forms, targets specific crimes to be prevented, suppressed, detected,
disclosed and investigated in cooperation.

In 2005, the Community of Democratic Choice followed suit. It
identified the need "…to address the threats to the democratic
development of society, which are – among others – corruption,
organized crime, money-laundering, terrorism in its different forms,
the existence of remaining conflicts in Europe and illicit trafficking
in drugs, arms and human beings."

In May 2006, heads of state at the GUAM [Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan
and Moldova Organization for Democracy and Economic Development – Ed.

Note] Summit paid special attention to the challenges and threats
of aggressive separatism and transnational organized crime in their
region.

Unresolved conflicts and the illegal presence of foreign troops
and armaments in GUAM States were recognized as main obstacles to
full-scale democratic transformations and economic development in
the region.

Security problems related to transnational crime in the BSR are
specific in character. Lacking political will, however, it is unlikely
they will succeed in nipping organized crime in the bud and punishing
the state and non-state actors involved.

Transnational organized crime, combined with remnants of communist
and Soviet networks, can be manipulated to advance the geopolitical
motives of third states. Frozen conflicts and breakaway territories
promote organized criminal activity and impede democratic development.

One may argue that organized crime is as old as humankind, and what
time does not resolve is not a problem. However, for the rule of law
and democratic development in the Black Sea Region, it is.

Lada L. Roslycky LL.M. is an independent consultant and PhD Researcher
at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.