By Vitaly PORTNYKOV, The Day
Russian military cargo planes flew to Kosovo last Tuesday. The airfield
they headed for, Slatina near Pristina, is now known throughout the world
as the graphic example of an unpredictable Yeltsin-style policy and the
symbol of ambitions in Russia's top officers.
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?






