Foreign Ministry Says Russia Not Bound By OSCE Declaration
MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia does not feel constrained by a controversial OSCE statement denouncing the Kremlin's brutal crackdown in the republic of Chechnya, the foreign ministry said here Wednesday.
"The Russian Federation does not in any way consider itself bound by any conclusions or recommendations contained in the document as it is not based on a consensus of views," ITAR-TASS quoted a ministry statement as saying.
"It does not correspond to fact and does not reflect the whole specter of OSCE member opinions," the ministry added.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) works on a consensus basis, under which all parties have to agree to every word of declarations, a protocol that usually results in watered-down language.
A two-day summit of the 55-member European security body ended in failure Tuesday after foreign ministers meeting in Vienna failed to agree on a joint declaration due to disputes with Russia over the wording, notably on Chechnya.
Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the OSCE's current chairwoman, was forced to read out a non-consensus statement in which she called for an independent probe into alleged human rights abuses in the war-torn republic.
"The continued loss of life and material damage inflicted upon the Chechen population was deplored," she said, in a reference to alleged atrocities against civilians perpetrated by Russian troops.
Ferrero-Waldner also criticized Russia's slow progress in withdrawing its troops from Moldova and Georgia.
