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West Blasts Russia For Stalling On Chechnya
by Michael Thurston
VIENNA (AFP) - United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright criticized Russia Monday for stalling on commitments made last year over its clampdown in Chechnya, calling the failure "tragic".
Albright led expressions of Western regret that Moscow has failed to fulfill pledges on Chechnya and a series of promises to withdraw forces from ex-Soviet territories.
But Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov blasted back, denouncing those who wanted to impose their view on others as "magisterial teachers."
British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said he was "disappointed" by the continuing levels of Russian forces in Chechnya and the so-called southern flank of the former Soviet Union.
"We are now not as far forward as I had hoped a year ago," he told the meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Albright said Moscow has plainly not met pledges made at an OSCE head of state summit in Istanbul last November.
"We can only be fully effective if our members uphold the principles and commitments to which they have agreed," she said in a pointed reference.
The Russians signed a document in Istanbul reaffirming the urgency of a political settlement in Chechnya and allowing the OSCE to redeploy its Assistance Group of experts in the troubled Caucasus republic.
"It is tragic that these issues remain unresolved. The OSCE can play a valuable role on the ground in Chechnya," she told an OSCE ministerial meeting.
She called on Russia to "agree to an early date" for the Chechnya Assistance Group's return. And she also referred to Russian commitments to withdraw forces from Moldova and Georgia.
"These agreements were reached almost a year ago. I call on the Russian federation to end the stalemate on withdrawal from Moldova," she said, also urging continued progress on Russian withdrawal from Georgia.
"Finally, we call upon Russia to reduce equipment levels in the CFE flank region in accordance with President Putin's assurances," she said, referring to the Convention Forces on Europe (CFE).
But Ivanov lamented a "lack of deep understanding of the concerns of members states," adding "some ‘magisterial teachers’ attempts to impose patterns are doomed to a failure."
He also attacked double standards by the OSCE, saying that a "constructive approach by the president of the OSCE should remove obstacles" to the deployment of the organization’s workers in Chechnya.
"I am convinced that it is time to overcome the current negative trend in the way of the OSCE functions," he said.
OSCE chairperson-in-office Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Austria's foreign minister, also expressed regret Monday that Russia has not yet agreed to allow its workers back into Chechnya.
"In spite of the promises by Russia ... we have not yet managed to get the Assistance Group back," she said, referring to an OSCE mission withdrawn from Chechnya last year due to a flare-up in the conflict. "This is all the more regrettable as I believe we could provide essential help there," she said.
Diplomats had signaled that Russia had blocked a number of points in a final declaration due to be agreed by the foreign ministers of the 55-member OSCE during their two-day meeting in Vienna.
The OSCE works by consensus, and therefore the declaration was expected to include watered-down comments on key problems.
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