U.S. Senate Committee Discussed Developments in Black Sea Region
Civil Georgia / 2005-03-09 16:59:19
On March 8 the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a
hearing:Â on Future of Democracy in the Black Sea Area. At the hearing,
which involved discussions over the U.S. policy towards the region,
Russia’s role, conflict resolution issues, democracy development,
the U.S. Senate Committee listened to the testimonies delivered by
John Tefft, the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European
and Eurasian Affairs; Bruce Jackson, who chairs the Washington-based
Project for Transitional Democracies and Vladimir Socor, a Senior
Fellow at the Washington-based think-tank Jamestown Foundation.
Conflicts
John Tefft, the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for
European and Eurasian Affairs said at the Senate Committee hearing,
that Russian-backed separatist conflicts in the region “impede
nation-building and democratization in a number of the Black Sea
region’s countries.”
“Russian support for separatists in other countries appears to be means
in part of maintaining levers of influence in Moldova and Georgia,”
he stated.
“Progress in Georgia is hampered by ongoing separatist conflicts in
South Ossetia and Abkhazia; the international community should stand
firm to encourage Georgia to resolve these conflicts peacefully,
we support President Saakashvili’s goal of reuniting the country,
and encourage Georgia to resolve the conflicts in South Ossetia and
Abkhazia in a peaceful manner,” Tefft said.
He also called the Georgian government to intensify internal reforms
that will strengthen the economy and “create incentives for the
separatist regions to integrate into Georgia.”
“Bruce Jackson, the President of the Washington-based Project for
Transitional Democracies said that conflicts in Transdnestria, Moldova
and Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia, threaten both the Europe’s
and United States interests and called on the EU and Washington for
more active involvement in the conflict resolution issues.
“In Transdnestria, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, transnational
crime has found a home and developed a base for trafficking in
weapons, drugs, women and children. These criminal enterprises
destabilize the governments of the region, threaten Europe with
illicit traffic, and ultimately pose a danger to the United States
with their capability and intent to sell weapons and technology to
our enemies,” Bruce Jackson said.
He also said that the United States should “prioritize” resolution
of the “frozen conflicts” in the region. “We must show far greater
resolve and enthusiasm when parties take a meaningful step towards
peace. President Misha [Mikheil] Saakashvili’s enlightened peace
plan for South Ossetia has been greeted by a resounding silence in
Brussels and Washington, which is dumbfounding. It is also callous
and derelict,” Bruce Jackson said, referring to the South Ossetia
peace proposal voiced by President Saakashvili at the Parliamentary
Assembly of Council of Europe in January.
Vladimir Socor, a Senior Fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, said
that Russia, which is “largely responsible for sparking or fanning
these conflicts” has an interested in keeping these conflicts, “so
as to pressure Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Moldova and thwart
their Euro-Atlantic integration.”
“Russia’s policy consists of freezing not the conflicts as such, but
the rather the negotiating processes, which Russia itself dominates
The U.N. and OSCE, left largely to their own devices, have merely
conserved these conflicts,” Vladimir Socor added.
Russia/Military Bases/OSCE
While speaking about Russia’s policy towards the Black Sea region,
John Tefft said that Moscow shares the U.S. desire for stability,
“but appears to interpret stability in a fundamentally different way.”
“Russia has been critical of the programs the EU is pursuing under
its Neighborhood Policy to create a string of well-governed states
on the EU’s border and that in the Black Sea region, which explicitly
includes Georgia and Ukraine. Russia defines stability as preservation
of the status quo, with regimes it knows well,” Tefft stated.
“For the same reason, Russia has been slow to close its remaining
bases in Georgia and remove its troops from Transdnestria. We also
continue to support talks between Georgia and Russia on the 1999
Istanbul commitments to reach agreement on the status and duration
of remaining Russian bases in Georgia,” Tefft said.
The U.S. Department of State officials also said that Russia remains
extremely sensitive over a possible U.S. military role in the
region. “This can be seen particularly in the pressure that Russia
has placed on Georgia to agree to a “no foreign bases” clause in a
Georgia Russia Framework Treaty, and it can be seen also in Russia’s
displeasure over the U.S. Georgia Train and Equip Program (GTEP)
and Sustainment and Stability Operations Program (SSOP) to train
Georgian forces,” he added.
“We have made clear to Moscow at very senior levels that we have no
plans for establishing U.S. bases in Georgia,” Tefft stated.
The U.S. official said that Washington is concerned regarding
Russia’s veto to prolong the mandate of the OSCE border monitors,
who were observing troubled Chechen, Ingush and Daghestani
section of Russo-Georgian Border. “We are also urging Russia to
stop obstructing an Organization of Security Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) border monitoring operation [BMO] along the Chechnya portion
of the Russian-Georgian border. We believe this monitoring operation
has played an important role in deterring the possible movement of
international terrorists and Chechen fighters between Russia and
Georgia,” he said.
Bruce Jackson said that Georgia encounters “continuous obstruction
from Russia.” He said that late last year, Russia blocked the OSCE
from reinforcing a mission in breakaway South Ossetia “in order
to protect its ability to ship prohibited weapons and explosives
through the Roki Tunnel [which links Russia with South Ossetia]
to paramilitary gangs in South Ossetia.”
Bruce Jackson also said that Russia’s actions, including against OSCE
border monitoring operation, “could very well prove to be the death
knell for the OSCE.”
In his testimony Vladimir Socor emphasized on OSCE 1999 Istanbul
Treaty in regard of removal of Russian bases from Georgia and said that
“the Istanbul Commitments are dead.”
“Since 2002, Moscow has rejected the very notion that it had made
“commitments” in Istanbul to withdraw its troops from Georgia and
Moldova. The OSCE itself all along termed those Russian commitments
only “politically binding,” as distinct from legally binding; i.e.,
not binding in practice. All these concessions notwithstanding,
the OSCE is no longer able since 2003 even to cite its own 1999
decisions, because Russia has easily vetoed such references in the
organization’s routine year-end resolutions. Realistically speaking,
the Istanbul Commitments are dead,” Vladimir Socor said.
“Since 2004, moreover, Moscow threatens to destroy the OSCE by
blocking the adoption of the organization’s budget and terminating
certain OSCE activities. Russia does not want to kill the OSCE, but
rather to harness and use the weakened organization. Under these
circumstances, no one can possibly expect the OSCE to resurrect the
Istanbul Commitments,” he added.
Regional Cooperation, GUUAM
John Tefft said that the Unites Sates will support targets enhancing
regional cooperation. He said that the U.S. assistance to CIS states –
Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova, together with Uzbekistan,
which form GUUAM, will enable “these countries to cooperate in law
enforcement and harmonize their trade and transportation regimes.”
“Last week (March 2) in Chisinau Presidents Saakashvili, Yushchenko,
and Voronin jointly called for revitalizing GUUAM as Moldova assumes
chairmanship next month [in April],” John Tefft said.
But Bruce Jackson said that regional initiatives, such as “the confused
GUUAM” or the moribund Black Sea Economic Cooperation forum have not
filled the gap.”
“As a consequence, we should engage with regional leaders, such
as Romanian President Basescu, Georgian President Saakashvili, and
Ukrainian President Yushchenko, on the formation of new structures
for a Black Sea strategy,” Bruce Jackson added.
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