Monday, June 29, 2009

Russia Proposes New Security Pact to Defang NATO

...but the West isn't buying it!

"We don't need a new structure. We have many at our disposal -- U.N., EU, OSCE, Council of Europe. We have the principles, we have the structures, let's strengthen them," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told reporters.

The ministerial meeting of the OSCE grouping European nations, the United States and Canada, took place against a backdrop of tension between the West and Russia over Georgia.

Moscow, for its part, is concerned at NATO expansion, possibly into former Soviet territory and U.S. plans for a missile shield in central Europe.

[...]

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said Cold War-era institutions like NATO are unable to ease friction in a multipolar world. "Security can be either common or illusory," his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said last week.

Medvedev's proposed Treaty on European Security would grant equal status to participating countries, rule out military alliances adopting policies detrimental to the security of the other parties, and deny any country or alliance the right to maintain peace and stability on the continent.


That last sounds exactly like a way to try to dismantle NATO. huh. No wonder they aren't biting. Oh, the OSCE and Russia haven't had a terribly good time with one another either over Georgia.

No comments: