Rusland doet EU en VS voorstel voor nieuw Europees veiligheidspact (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev i on Sunday (29 November) tabled a draft "European security treaty" aimed at overcoming the Cold War "legacy," but without acknowledging any of Moscow's military adventures in the past year.
Mr Medvedev had been pushing for a new treaty defining the European security architecture since more than a year, especially after the Russia-Georgia war broke out, prompting a freeze in Nato-Russian relations for over six months.
The pact would have signatory countries commit to Nato-like security pledges in case of an attack on one of its members and refrain from "any other actions significantly affecting the security of any other parties."
The wording does not clearly specify what these actions could be. Moscow has repeatedly claimed that Nato enlargement to Ukraine and Georgia, for instance, is a direct threat to its security, as well as the now scrapped missile defence plans involving Poland and the Czech Republic.
In reference to that, Russia stresses that "no one state, and no one international organisation could strengthen their security at the expense of other countries and organisations."
Sent to all countries in Europe, the former Soviet republics, the US and Canada, the draft emphasizes the role of the United Nations' security council - where Russia has a veto right - as bearing "the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and stability."
The document was also sent to the EU and Nato, as well as another security organisations where Russia is a member - such as the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The latter was the only international body with observers in the Georgian territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, recognised as independent by Russia.
Earlier this year, Moscow opposed extending their mandate. This means that no-one is monitoring what is happening inside those provinces where Russia has amassed troops.
Nato foreign ministers and their Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov are likely to discuss the Medvedev proposals on Friday during a Nato-Russia council meeting in Brussels.
But so far, Western leaders, particularly in the US and Great Britain, have shown little appetite to re-configure the existing European security architecture, primarily granted by the transatlantic military alliance.
Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen i said the organisation will analyse and respond to the Russian president's ideas.
A review of Nato's own security concept, involving new threats such as cyber attacks and piracy, is currently undergoing, but will not change any of the security guarantees given to its members by the so-called Washington treaty.
According to article 5 of that document signed over half a century ago, in case of a military attack on one member, others will respond as they deem necessary "including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area."
But eastern Nato members, especially the Baltic states, feel exposed to Russia's military adventurism and call for new plans to be drafted inside the alliance as to how to proceed in case of an armed attack on the new members.
During the Cold War, such so-called contingency plans were drafted in case the Soviet Union invaded one of the Nato members - then only western European countries. But after the fall of the USSR, such plans were no longer deemed necessary.
Apart from the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008, the Baltic states and Poland also felt threatened by mass-scale war games carried out by Moscow in their immediate proximity in September this year.
The war games involved more than 12,000 troops, over 200 tanks, 470 other armored vehicles and 100 aircraft, and were the first in the region for 25 years.
The exercises irked Warsaw, notably after documents obtained by the media showed that the "enemy" bore a strong resemblance to Poland and that the maneuvers included simulated counter-attacks suited to Polish terrain.
"When Russia organises this kind of exercise on our border, that is a source of concern for us, and we of course relay this concern to the alliance, asking it to take it into account," Polish foreign minister Radek Sikorski said. Russia rejected this criticism and said the exercises were "far away" from the Polish borders.
Earlier this month, Nato expressed concern about the maneuvers, saying they ran counter to the recent rapprochement between Moscow and the military alliance.
But diplomats say the issue will not be brought up at the Nato-Russia meeting on Friday, which will focus more on the Russian help needed for its mission in Afghanistan.
"Russia's war games are menacing in scenario and scale and have highlighted the disunity in Nato which has only limited capability to defend its members in the region," Edward Lucas, author of "The New Cold War" told this website.
He said the security proposals tabled by Mr Medvedev would weaken the "already troubled Atlantic alliance" and erode Nato's collective security guarantee.
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