Staying

Only a few days ago, the question of the arrival of a Russian military contingent at Slatina seemed still unresolved, after the Russian generals, who conducted talks with their US counterparts in Washington, actually tried to revise the agreements reached in Helsinki by the Russian and US foreign affairs and defense ministers. It did not look gentlemanly. But nor did NATO's behavior. Hungary, Bulgaria, and Rumania, which at first allegedly agreed to grant air corridors for the Russian airplanes, suddenly refused to let them through. It became clear the Russians would never be able to get to Kosovo without consultations with NATO. Now a new compromise has been found. The Russian planes flew over the territory of Ukraine and Rumania. It is obvious that the two sides will also have to strike a deal about the joint command of the peacekeeping forces: this was the main problem in the Moscow-NATO negotiations. It is also obvious that Russia and the Western capitals take an entirely different stand on the situation in Kosovo.

Whatever criticism may be made concerning NATO actions during the Yugoslav conflict, one must agree that, after the bombings stopped and the peacekeeping force moved into Kosovo, the alliance regards the situation as one connected solely with peacemaking tasks. There is no point in talking about any great success by the NATO peacemakers for the simple reason that the Serbs and Gypsies continue to leave Kosovo, and it is obvious that the NATO contingent only performs the most mundane police functions.

The Russian politicians and generals had a different objective from the very beginning: to prove their country's geopolitical role. "To stay in the Balkans." Precisely that. This is what the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Ivanov was talking about as the main achievement of Russian foreign policy after the Council of the Federation consented to the deployment of a Russian peacekeeping contingent in Kosovo.

There is no need explaining that the main purpose of peacekeeping contingents is to establish peace in the troubled province and not the wish of even such a sizable country as Russia to stay behind somewhere and prove its influence on international affairs. At any rate, as long as Russian politicians continue to employ precisely these notions, we should not pin any hopes on the resolution of territorial and ethnic conflicts in the post-Soviet space.

For Russian peacemakers are stationed in several CIS hot spots.

Stationed to stay?