EU DIPLOMATS WARY OF RUSSIA CONTROVERSY
BusinessWeek
August 13, 2008, 1:58PM EST
An EU declaration will fall short of Georgia’s hopes, offering
humanitarian aid but not blaming either Russia or Georgia for the
conflict
The French EU presidency is expected to endorse the Russia-Georgia
ceasefire, offer humanitarian aid and urge EU unity in a statement
after an EU foreign ministers meeting on Wednesday (13 August),
with Paris keen to avoid controversy on who to blame for the crisis.
Preparatory discussions by EU diplomats on Tuesday saw a group of
former communist states speak in "sharp language" about Russia, but
the tone was "less radical than they used for their domestic press,"
one diplomat who attended the debates told EUobserver.
"The presidency thinks, right now, it’s better to focus on
problem-solving, rather than trying to go into characterisation of
the war, who started what, who reacted, and the EU is united behind
the idea," he added. "The presidency wants to preserve as much room
for manoeuvre for future mediation as possible."
Wednesday’s EU statement will probably be a French declaration rather
than a formal joint position by all 27 countries, an EU official said.
"The situation is still evolving. It’s not black and white. Of course,
Georgia made some mistakes, Russia made some mistakes. But the idea
now is to help mediation, to see what we can do from a humanitarian
point of view."
The declaration is likely to fall short of Georgian hopes, with
Georgia’s EU ambassador, Salome Samadashvili, saying she would
like the EU to label Russia’s behaviour as an "act of aggression,"
condemn the bombing of the Georgian town of Gori, cast doubt on
EU-Russia negotiations on a new strategic pact and reaffirm Georgia’s
territorial integrity.
The foreign ministers meeting will begin with a briefing by France’s
Bernard Kouchner, who came to Brussels from Tbilisi on Tuesday night
after taking part in talks between French president Nicolas Sarkozy
and Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili.
Russia and Georgia on Tuesday signed a Russian-drafted, six-point
ceasefire plan which calls for troops to pull back and for
international talks about the "modalities of security and stability"
in Georgian separatist regions.
Shockwaves
The five day war erupted when Georgia fired on Russia-backed rebels
in the Georgian province of South Ossetia last Friday (8 August)
and Russia launched a massive retaliation, moving tanks deep into
Georgian territory, mobilising its navy and ordering bombing raids.
The fighting killed hundreds of civilians and shocked former communist
EU states, as well as Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia and Azerbaijan, some
of which fear that a newly-assertive Russia will try to undermine
other pro-western neighbours in future.
"The EU should say ‘no’ [to Russia’s subjugation of Georgia] and push
Russia out. This means tough language, sanctions [against Russia]
and quick EU humanitarian intervention," a diplomat from one of the
former communist EU states said, looking at the EU’s policy options
down the line.
The Russian incursion into Georgia was clearly "military aggression"
and should bear "costs" in terms of EU-Russia relations, but a
suspension of the current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement or
of military cooperation would be ineffective, European Council on
Foreign Relations analyst, Nicu Popescu, said.
The EU’s main focus should instead be the swift deployment of an
impartial, international peacekeeping force made up of UN or EU
soldiers and civilian monitors followed by a donors’ conference to
help rebuild the war zone, he advised.
"The first lesson of this crisis is that the old policy of
EU non-engagement has encouraged both parties to escalate their
actions. From an EU perspective, the first casualty is the theory that
by getting more involved in Georgia, the EU will irritate Russia and
provoke instability."
Mr Sarkozy in Moscow on Tuesday spoke of the possibility of an EU
peacekeeping mission, with Estonia quickly offering to send troops.
Peacekeeping conundrum
But creating a force that will be acceptable to all sides could prove
hard, with Russia’s NATO ambassador, Dmitry Rogozin, on Tuesday
ruling out any Georgian component, while Ms Samadashvili said no
Russian troops can take part.
Last year, Russia and Estonia were involved in an ugly row
over Tallinn’s decision to move a Soviet-era statue from its city
centre. And the current Russia-Georgia conflict has injected bitterness
into international relations beyond Europe.
Russia’s Mr Rogozin at a briefing in Brussels on Tuesday complained
that NATO had listened to Georgian delegates but failed to convene a
NATO Russia Council as planned, implying that Georgia ally, the US,
secretly knew about Georgia’s plans to attack the South Ossetia rebels
last week.
"I suspect the American allies will be ashamed to discuss this with
their European colleagues," he said.