Präsident Saakashvili in der Heiligen Dreifaltigkeitskirche am Bußtag

28.04.2009 | Civil.ge | Link zur Quelle | Bilder | Video

Präsident Saakashvili rief zum Dialog und zum Vergessen der persönlichen Rivalitäten auf, als er in der Heiligen Dreifaltigkeitskirche eine Ansprache hielt.




President Saakashvili made an appeal for a dialogue and for forgetting “a personal rivalry” while speaking from a podium of the country’s major cathedral.
April 28 was a day of national repentance, which was called by an influential leader of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II.
Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi was the key venue of the nationwide repentance prayer held in all the churches throughout Georgia – the event, which in fact turned into the political one.
Irakli Alasania, the chairman of Alliance for Georgia, was the only opposition leader, among those behind the ongoing protests, who attended the prayer in the Holy Trinity Cathedral, where President Saakashvili and other senior officials were also present. Other opposition leaders attended the prayer in other churches.
“Your holiness, my compatriots; as one of you I am obliged to repeat the words which his holiness [Patriarch Ilia II] has said: among all sinners I am first,” President Saakashvili, standing next to the Patriarch in the Holy Trinity Cathedral after the prayer, said.
He said that he was ready to immediately start a dialogue with the opposition and listed the same agenda, which the authorities have been offering for talks even before the launch of street protests – overcoming economic difficulties and national security issues. The third topic is democratic reforms.
“I want to welcome the presence of various people here, representatives of various political groups,” Saakashvili said. “I want to tell you that we may not agree with each other, but I am ready to go from here and resume - today, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow – what we have been speaking about for a long time, to talk with each other about how to help the people to overcome their poverty, how to overcome the difficulties in our country, how to unite our country, how to stand together in front of the enemy, who stays 40 kilometers away from Tbilisi and aims its cannons against us.”
“But as the first step of our dialogue, of our unity, I want that we all say here, in this great Cathedral, that there should be no hatred and aggression in our relations,” he continued. “As a symbol of that, I want to shake hand with each politician present here and I want to tell them: we have no alternative except of dialogue, except of staying together and building a joint future.”
Saakashvili then walked down from the podium and shook his hand with Irakli Alasania, before doing the same with other politicians present there, including some lawmakers from the Christian-Democratic Movement, a leading party in the parliamentary minority group.
Alasania’s decision to attend the prayer in the same Cathedral together with the Georgian authorities came as a surprise, because other opposition leaders announced earlier that they would pray in other churches and went to either Kashueti or Sioni churches in Tbilisi, in an apparent attempt to avoid appearance together with President Saakashvili, whose resignation they are demanding.
“Unfortunately, the authorities use these great religious events for their political PR campaign; so we want to avoid it” by not going to the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Eka Beselia of the Movement for United Georgia, told protesters outside the Parliament earlier on April 28.
Tina Khidasheli of the Republican Party, part of Alliance for Georgia, tried later on April 28 to allay any speculation, which is most likely to be triggered after that conciliatory gesture of Alasania.
“I want to calm down everyone, who may be anxious about that fact; I want to assure you that there was no politics behind that decision [by Alasania]; we all [the opposition leaders] have taken this decision in which church to pray individually,” Khidasheli said.
Also on April 28, late in the evening, Patriarch Ilia II, met with the opposition leaders, those who are organizing the ongoing protest rallies.
“We have informed his holiness about our position and told him that we are not against the dialogue and that we want a dialogue on terms of President Saakashvili’s resignation,” Gubaz Sanikidze of the National Forum party, said after the meeting.
Stichworte: Georgien, Innenpolitik, Sprache: deutsch, englisch, Archiv: #

"Allianz für Georgien" mit Irakli Alasania äußert sich bezüglich des "Aktionsplans der Opposition" vorsichtig

06.04.2009 | Civil.ge | Link zur Quelle | Bilder | Video
Die "Allianz für Georgien" mit Irakli Alasania äußert sich bezüglich des "Aktionsplans der Opposition" vorsichtig, insbesondere wird der ins Spiel gebrachte Begriff "Apokalypse" als Fehler bezeichnet. Die Demonstration im April soll nur ein Teil des Kampfes sein, man könne auch zur Geißel der Aktion werden, wenn man nicht konkrete Schritte vorgeplant habe und dann spontan entschieden wird. ...
Alliance for Georgia Treading Cautiously as Planned Rallies Loom
Irakli Alasania, the leader of opposition Alliance for Georgia, said he hoped the street protest rallies planned from April 9 would help to launch “a dialogue with the authorities that would lead to peaceful power transition.”
He said in an interview with the Georgian weekly Kviris Palitra, published on April 6, that the authorities’ proposals put forth last week “are not sincere and adequate.”
“The authorities proposal to negotiate on how to tackle global crisis and unemployment a week before the planned rallies, further increases the public mistrust towards the authorities,” Alasania said. The ruling party has also offered the opposition to engage in a dialogue on democratic reforms and national security issues.
“It is cynical when the minister for probation and penitentiary system is appointed as a negotiator with the opposition. So we have not perceived those proposals seriously. But at the same time I want to say that the dialogue is the only option for finding a solution,” Alasania added.
While campaigning in the provincial regions in lead up to the April 9 rally alongside with other opposition leaders planning the street rallies, politicians from Alliance for Georgia seem to be anyway treading cautiously about the matter, in particular about the opposition’s action plan.
“We consider April 9 as a very important date. We believe that everyone who wants development of the country should join this rally,” Davit Usupashvili, the leader of Republican Party, part of the Alliance, said in the Rustavi 2 TV’s political talk show, Position, on April 3.
“Our position is that the rally should be peaceful and it should be result-oriented… We should achieve a concrete result from these rallies and on this matter we are holding consultations with our partners,” he continued.
“Will inform the public about the level of our participation when a concrete scheme is clarified about April 9 and further scenario of development,” Usupashvili added.
Pikria Chikhradze of the New Rights Party – part of the Alliance, was more straightforward and told the Georgian daily Rezonansi in an interview published on April 4 that she thought it was “a mistake” when the opposition parties portrayed April 9 rally as “an apocalyptic” and ultimately decisive event.
She said April 9 should have been only “an important part of this struggle” and “not a date when we all gather [at the rally] and do not disperse.”
“Our vision was different; we have been proposing different plan to the group organizing the April 9 rally and we still continue proposing it. Irakli Alasania is trying to make the process more reasonable and more result-oriented for the society,” the Rezonansi quoted Chikhradze. “When we were telling them not to make April 9 an apocalyptic, we also meant that by doing so, whether we wanted it or not, we were all becoming hostages of this date.”
She said that in the past there had been cases when during the large protest rallies organizers were deadlocked about the future steps, “as they did not know what concrete steps to take at the concrete time.” Such a scenario, Chikhradze continued, triggers organizers to take spontaneous decisions “to make the situation sharper” in order to not to lose the rally’s momentum.
“And that is when you become a hostage of you own actions… Now we are all the hostages of April 9,” she said and added that the Alliance was not part of the organizing committee because of that reason as there was no concrete action plan yet. She, however, also said that the Alliance was anyway taking its share of responsibility about the developments.
Meanwhile, Salome Zourabichvili, leader of Georgia’s Party, which is part of the April 9 rally organizing committee, said the planned rallies would be about “patience and endurance.”
“We should stand there as long as required, until Saakashvili resigns… This will be a peaceful demonstration of our will and do not listen if someone calls for storming [the governmental or parliament] building; one who calls for this type of action will be a provoker,” told RFE/RL Georgian service on April 6.
She also said that those, who may call for dispersal of the rally for some reasons, would be considered as collaborators with the authorities.
Stichworte: Georgien, Innenpolitik, Sprache: deutsch, englisch, Archiv: #

Strasbourg / Kehl Summit Declaration 2009

Press Release: (2009) 044

Issued by the Heads of State and Government participating in the meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Strasbourg / Kehl on 4 April 2009

1. We, the Heads of State and Government of the member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance, have gathered in Strasbourg and Kehl to celebrate the 60th anniversary of NATO. We have adopted a Declaration on Alliance Security which reaffirms the basic values, principles and purposes of our Alliance. We have launched the process to develop a new Strategic Concept which will define NATO’s longer-term role in the new security environment of the 21st century. ...

7. Today we renew our commitment to a common approach to address the challenges to peace and security in the Euro-Atlantic area. We underscore that the existing structures – NATO, the European Union (EU), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe – based on common values, continue to provide every opportunity for countries to engage substantively on Euro-Atlantic security with a broad acquis, established over decades, that includes respect for human rights; territorial integrity; the sovereignty of all states, including their right to decide their own security arrangements; and the requirement to fulfil international commitments and agreements.

29. Stability and successful political and economic reform in Ukraine and Georgia are important to Euro-Atlantic security. At Bucharest we agreed that Ukraine and Georgia will become members of NATO and we reaffirm all elements of that decision as well as the decisions taken by our Ministers of Foreign Affairs last December. We are maximising our advice, assistance and support for their reform efforts in the framework of the NATO-Ukraine Commission and NATO-Georgia Commission, which play a central role in supervising the process set in hand at the Bucharest Summit. We welcome in particular the planned reinforcement of NATO’s Information and Liaison Offices in Kyiv and Tbilisi. Without prejudice to further decisions which must be taken about MAP, the development of Annual National Programmes will help Georgia and Ukraine in advancing their reforms. The annual review of these programmes will allow us to continue to closely monitor Georgia and Ukraine’s progress on reforms related to their aspirations for NATO membership. We also welcome the valuable contributions made by both countries to NATO’s operations. ...

31. The NATO-Georgia relationship has deepened substantially in the past year. We remain committed to fostering political dialogue with, as well as providing assistance to, Georgia. We strongly encourage Georgia to continue implementing all necessary reforms, particularly democratic, electoral, and judicial reforms, in order to achieve its Euro-Atlantic aspirations. We reiterate our continued support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia within its internationally recognised borders.

32. We encourage all participants in the Geneva talks to play a constructive role as well as to continue working closely with the OSCE, UN and the EU to pursue peaceful conflict resolution on Georgia’s territory. We welcome as a positive step the agreement reached in the framework of the Geneva talks on joint incident prevention and response mechanisms and we urge all the participants involved to engage in their rapid implementation. We note the renewal of the mandate for the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) and the roll-over of the mandate for the OSCE Military Monitors. We call for a new mandate for the OSCE Mission to Georgia as well as for unimpeded access for UN, EU, and OSCE observers throughout all of Georgia, including the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. We are concerned by the continued tensions and violence along the administrative boundary lines and call on all parties to demonstrate restraint.

33. The NATO-Russia partnership was conceived as a strategic element in fostering security in the Euro-Atlantic area, and we remain committed to it. Dialogue and cooperation between NATO and Russia are important for our joint ability to meet effectively common security threats and challenges. We reaffirm the importance of upholding the common values and all the principles enshrined in the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act and the 2002 Rome Declaration by all members of the NATO-Russia Council. Our relations with Russia depend on trust and the fulfilment of commitments. Since our last Summit, dialogue and cooperation with Russia have suffered from profound disagreements on a number of issues. The Alliance will continue to assess developments in relations with Russia.

34. We urge Russia to meet its commitments with respect to Georgia, as mediated by the European Union on 12 August² and 8 September 2008. In this context, we view Russia’s withdrawal from the areas it has committed to leave as essential. We have welcomed steps taken to implement those commitments, but the withdrawal is still incomplete. The Alliance has condemned Russia’s recognition of the South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions of Georgia as independent states, and continues to call on Russia to reverse its recognition which contravenes the founding values and principles of the NATO-Russia Council, the OSCE principles on which the security of Europe is based, and the United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Georgia’s territorial integrity, which Russia endorsed. In addition, the build-up of Russia’s military presence in the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia without the consent of the Government of Georgia is of particular concern.

35. Despite our current disagreements, Russia is of particular importance to us as a partner and neighbour. NATO and Russia share common security interests, such as the stabilisation of Afghanistan; arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation of WMD, including their means of delivery; crisis management; counter-terrorism; counter-narcotics; and anti-piracy. Following through with the decisions taken by the Foreign Ministers at their meetings in December 2008 and March 2009, we look forward to the reconvening of formal NATO-Russia Council meetings, including at Ministerial level, as soon as possible before summer 2009. We are committed to using the NATO-Russia Council as a forum for political dialogue on all issues – where we agree and disagree – with a view towards resolving problems, addressing concerns and building practical cooperation. We are convinced that the NATO-Russia Council has not exploited its full potential. We therefore stand ready, in the NATO-Russia Council, to assess possibilities for making it a more efficient and valuable instrument for our political dialogue and practical cooperation. ...

41. The Black Sea region continues to be important for Euro-Atlantic security. We welcome the progress in consolidation of regional cooperation and ownership, through effective use of existing initiatives and mechanisms, and based on transparency, complementarity and inclusiveness. We will continue to support, as appropriate, efforts based on regional priorities and dialogue among the Black Sea states and with the Alliance. ...

58. We remain concerned with the persistence of protracted regional conflicts in the South Caucasus and the Republic of Moldova. It is essential for all parties in these regions to engage constructively in peaceful conflict resolution. We call on them all to avoid steps that undermine regional security and stability, and to respect the current negotiation formats. We continue to support the territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova, and will also continue to support efforts towards a peaceful settlement of these regional conflicts, taking into account these principles. We welcome OSCE efforts and processes in these regions, to which the Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform could be a useful complement.

59. The Alliance will continue to consult on the most immediate risks in the field of energy security. In Bucharest we agreed principles which govern NATO’s approach in the field of energy security, and options and recommendations for further activities. The Alliance has continued to implement these recommendations. Today we have noted a “Report on Progress Achieved in the Area of Energy Security”. The disruption of the flow of natural gas in January 2009 seriously affected a number of Allies and Partner countries. The issues of a stable and reliable energy supply, diversification of routes, suppliers and energy sources, and the interconnectivity of energy networks, remain of critical importance. Today we have declared our continuing support for efforts aimed at promoting energy infrastructure security. In accordance with the Bucharest decisions, we will continue to ensure that NATO’s endeavours add value and are fully coordinated and embedded within those of the international community, which features a number of organisations that are specialised in energy security. We task the Council in Permanent Session to prepare an interim report for the Foreign Ministers’ meeting in December 2009 and a further report on the progress achieved in the area of energy security for our consideration at our next Summit. ...

Stichworte: Georgien, Russland, NATO, Sprache: englisch, Archiv: #

Appeal to the members of NATO - “NATO-membership for Georgia”

- NATO 60th Anniversary -

Appeal to the members of NATO - “NATO-membership for Georgia”

by the Georgian Diaspora community, 03.04.2009

NATO 60th Anniversary - Appeal to the members of NATO - NATO-membership for Georgia - englischer Aufruf 03.04.2009 als PDF-Datei - english appeal as PDF-file

The members of the Georgian Diaspora in Europe and the USA send their sincerest congratulations on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the Alliance and express all the best wishes for a peaceful future.

Georgian people, even if they live far from their homeland, have strong feelings and emotions about the fate of their beloved and coveted Georgia. Perhaps because of the distance they are worrying even more on what happens there.

And Georgian people have reasons to worry. For 3000 years, conquerors from every direction have coveted this wonderful land. The small Georgian states had to defend their independence against grand peoples like the Greeks, Romans, Persians, Arabs, Seljuks, Turks, Mongolians, Russians, and these peoples came again and again.

Now we appeal to give the independent and democratic states Georgia and Ukraine as quick as possible the MAP or even full NATO membership.

We appeal to continue to support the Georgian government and nation on the way to NATO. A repeat of 1921 – when Soviet Russia attacked and conquered the first democratic Georgian republic, because Georgia was abandoned by democratic Western states – must not happen again.

We strongly believe that NATO must integrate Georgia and Ukraine, because they belong to a complete European NATO community. Both have European Christian traditions and modern democratic state structures. By plebiscite in Georgia 77% of voters favoured Georgian membership of NATO. Only with their membership is a peaceful and stable future in Europe possible!

The NATO membership of Georgia as the central country and as the transit way for energy and goods in the Caucasus region is a guarantee for peace and stability in the whole Caucasus. For this purpose the territorial integrity of Georgia must be respected.

Energy security is also very important for NATO members in the future. Georgia as transit country to Europe from the Caspian and Persian region offers alternative routes beside Russia and reduces the already existing dependence on Russian energy net. Therefore security and stability in Georgia creates also security and stability in the whole Caucasus and Europe.

Good neighbourhood relations to the NATO member Turkey could be strengthened and Turkey in its geographical outstanding position would get more assistance and support.

In a certain way the situation of Georgia nowadays is comparable with the situation of West Germany in 1955. The incorporation of West Germany into the organization completed the NATO structure in front of the Soviet Union sphere. This act was directly executed without MAP, even in a tensed pre-war situation and protected Germany against Soviet aggression up to the present. And today is already the 230th day of Russia violating the “six-point peace plan” against Georgia and still occupying 20% of Georgian territory.

We want to commemorate You the history and situation of Georgia:
For 3000 years conquerors from every direction have coveted this wonderful land. The small Georgian states had to defend their independence against grand peoples like the Greeks, Romans, Persians, Arabs, Seljuks, Turks, Mongolians, Russians and these peoples came again and again.

Georgia never started campaigns and wars to conquer land outside of traditional Georgian settlement areas or to oppress neighbours. The culture in Georgia was always high developed, Christian belief became already 327 state religion and the Silk Road through Georgia was connecting Europe with the Orient. Georgia was always a multi-cultural country and lived in peace with religious and ethnic minorities, which were integrated in the society and even state administration. For example Ossetian people came in middle age time as refugees, survived as ethnical group and could keep their language and traditions because of the tolerance of Georgian nation up to the present.

At last the growing Russian empire reached the Caucasus in the 18th century and managed 1801 the annexation of the weakened, for help against Turkey asking Georgia. But brave Georgians survived then the russification in the 19th century with the foundation of the “Democratic Republic of Georgia” in 1918, immediately recognized by Germany and the Ottoman Empire, 1920 by Soviet Union, 1921 by the League of Nations. This, however, did not prevent the country from being attacked by Soviet Russia one month later. The sovietisation started then, because democratic Western states were not ready to recognize the consequences for the future. The elected government of Georgia went into exile in France, about 50,000 Georgians were executed and killed in 1921-1924, more than 150,000 were purged in 1935-1938.

In the time of perestroika freedom-loving Georgian people were the first, who started with demonstrations for freedom and independence in 1989. They could realize this at last in 1991, following examples of European democratic states. This transition got immediately undermined by the Russian influence, which reinstalled the old soviet nomenklatura, using for this also the ethnical conflict zones. The Rose Revolution in 2003 brought to power young politicians, who were educated in Western countries and started a new policy against corruption and for economical development inside the country. In foreign policy Georgia chose the way to EU and NATO, supported by US and European organisations and politicians. Because Russia by itself didn’t go this way to modern democratic structures and tolerant behaviour to his neighbours, at 2008 the Russian government finalized the plans from the past against Georgia and occupied with its military superiority, what they wanted to possess by themselves, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The other aim, to unseat president Saakashvili, was interrupted by diplomatic international interventions. By the way they damaged the Georgian infrastructure, the reputation of the Georgian government and the hope of a peaceful future in the Caucasus and Europe.

Georgian diaspora recognizes a “dual strategy” of Russian foreign policy:
bargaining, but then realizing and taking, what only they want, ignoring agreements !

The policy of the Russian government still doesn’t respect the free decisions of other nations about their future. This can’t be the political order of the 21th century.

Russian parliament passed an 25% increase of military spending and the government introduced an aggressive style of rhetoric, far away from peaceful cooperation and fair dialogue between nations.

The unilateral recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and the support of the de facto regimes with military equipment shows, that Russia continues heating up the ethnic conflicts and the separatism in Georgia. Additionally Russia started to build military bases in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and signed agreements about military cooperation and protection.

Russia still doesn’t abide by the “six-point peace plan”, signed in August 2008 by Russian President Medvedev, French President Sarkozy and Georgian President Saakashvili.
( Georgia asked for the additions in parentheses, but Russia rejected them. )

1. No recourse to the use of force.
2. Definitive cessation of hostilities.
3. Free access to humanitarian aid (addition rejected: and to allow the return of refugees).
4. The Armed Forces of Georgia must withdraw to their permanent positions.
5. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation must withdraw to the line where they were stationed prior to the beginning of hostilities. Prior to the establishment of international mechanisms the Russian peacekeeping forces will take additional security measures. (addition rejected: six months)
6. An international debate on the future status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and ways to ensure their lasting security will take place. (addition rejected: based on the decisions of the UN and the OSCE)

by Russian side broken treaties and agreements against Georgia in the past:

1783 Friendship “Treaty of Georgievsk” with Russia, but: no military help against a Persian attack and later annexation in spite of the guaranteed sovereignty!
1920 “Moscow Peace Treaty” with the recognition of Georgia by Soviet Union under the condition, that Georgia should be neutral. Therefore British troops left Georgia and shortly afterwards in 1921 the Red army attacked unprotected Georgia.
1989 „Constitution of the Soviet Union“, which guaranteed the „inviolability of persons“, but on a demonstration in Tbilisi Russian special units killed 22 Georgian citizens.
1991 „Constitution of the Soviet Union“ didn’t allow Russian military help for the Ossetian separatists. In 1990 no formal intervention against Ossetian independence declaration!
1992 Armistice in Abkhazia and 1993 peace treaty in Abkhazia, but both times instead no peacekeeping, military help for separatists and offensive with genocide of Georgians.

We want to remember You to statements and opinions out of the past to Georgia:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel
“Georgia will be, if it wants, and it wants, member of the NATO”, Angela Merkel said in the Georgian capital Tbilisi on Sunday directly after her meeting with the Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili. “The situation did not change for me at this point.”
(Welt, 17.07.2008)

Former US-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
“And you know, I don’t mean to sound at all cavalier about it, but there was one huge territorial dispute at the inception of NATO. It was called East Germany. And we did not prevent, therefore, West Germany for – from being a founding – for coming into NATO. And ultimately, it was in NATO that Germany not only overcame its division, but overcame its very difficult history with its neighbours through a democratic peace. And we need to remember that history, when we talk about territorial problems for Georgia.”
(Warsaw, Poland, August 20, 2008)

Estonian President Toomas Ilves
“It is highly regrettable, that the NATO couldn´t agree on, to offer these two countries (Georgia and Ukraine) the membership of the Access Programm (MAP). Obviously this was interpreted by Russia, that these countries remain in their area of influence.”
(FAZ, 13.08.08)

Russian President Dmitrij Medwedjew
“NATO provoked the Caucasus conflict.”
(SZ, 19.09.2008)

Former US-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
“The conflict in Georgia, thus, has deep roots. And clearly, all sides made mistakes and miscalculations. But several key facts are clear: On August 7th, following repeated violations of the ceasefire in South Ossetia, including the shelling of Georgian villages, the Georgian government launched a major military operation into Tskhinvali and other areas of the separatist region. ... But the situation deteriorated further when Russia’s leaders violated Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity – and launched a full scale invasion across an internationally-recognized border. … What is more disturbing about Russia’s actions is that they fit into a worsening pattern of behavior over several years now.“
“Russia’s invasion of Georgia has achieved – and will achieve – no enduring strategic objective. And our strategic goal now is to make clear to Russia’s leaders that their choices could put Russia on a one-way path to self-imposed isolation and international irrelevance.”
“We cannot afford to validate the prejudices that some Russian leaders seem to have: that if you press free nations hard enough – if you bully them, and you threaten them, and you lash out – they will cave in, and they’ll forget, and eventually they will concede.”
(Renaissance Mayflower Hotel, Washington, DC, September 18, 2008)

Stichworte: Georgien, Abchasien, Süd-Ossetien, Russland, Krieg-2008, Appell, Sprache: deutsch, englisch, Archiv: #

Russland und USA-Verbale Abrüstung

01.04.2009 | Tagesspiegel | Link zur Quelle | Bilder | Video |
Europa hofft auf einen Neuanfang zwischen Washington und Moskau – doch die Probleme bleiben. Kanzlerin Angela Merkel geht derweil auf Russland zu.
Mit einem Knopfdruck wollte Hillary Clinton den Neuanfang im Verhältnis zu Russland einleiten: Als die US-Außenministerin ihren russischen Kollegen Sergej Lawrow kürzlich zum ersten Mal traf, hatte sie einen roten Knopf aus Plastik mit der Aufschrift „Reset“ dabei, den beide dann gemeinsam drückten. Der einzige Schönheitsfehler der Inszenierung: Leider stand auf dem Knopf auf Russisch nicht „Reset“, sondern „Überlastung“ - ein Zeichen dafür, dass es zum gegenseitigen Verständnis noch ein weiter Weg ist.
...
Russlandexperten warnen nun davor, das Treffen von Obama und Medwedew überzubewerten: „Die strukturellen Probleme sind nach wie vor da“, betont Hans-Henning Schröder, Forschungsgruppenleiter bei der Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik. Jetzt gebe es aber die Chance, die Probleme im Gespräch zu lösen. Schließlich beharrt die neue US-Regierung nicht unbedingt auf der Raketenabwehr und forciert auch die Einbindung der Ukraine und Georgiens in die Nato nicht mehr. „Die USA haben einen großen Schritt auf Russland zu gemacht“, sagt Schröder. „Der Rest muss verhandelt werden.“
...
Der Krieg in Georgien und der Gasstreit zwischen Moskau und Kiew hatten das Verhältnis stark belastet. Merkel gab sich am Dienstag betont pragmatisch: Die deutsch-russischen Beziehungen seien „bei allen Problemen darauf gerichtet, dass wir diese Probleme lösen“.
Einer der Streitpunkte kam umgehend zur Sprache: Moskau ist verstimmt darüber, dass sich die EU mit der Ukraine auf eine Modernisierung des ukrainischen Gaspipelinenetzes verständigt hat. Es sei „unmöglich“, dass Russland nicht beteiligt worden sei, kritisierte Medwedew. Der Ukraine drohte er gar mit finanziellen Konsequenzen. Die Kanzlerin bot ihm nun an, mit der EU-Kommission zu reden, damit Russland einbezogen werden kann. Zugleich erinnerte sie aber daran, dass die Ukraine ein souveräner Staat sei. Moskau sieht das Land als Teil seiner Einflusssphäre; der russische Konzern Gasprom strebt die Kontrolle über das ukrainische Pipelinenetz an.
... Besuch in Berlin: Medwedew für eine neue Sicherheitsarchitektur in Europa – ein Vorschlag, der als Gegenkonzept zu Nato und OSZE verstanden wurde und deshalb kaum Chancen auf Zustimmung hat. Die Kanzlerin schlug Russland am Dienstag einen „ständigen Dialog“ mit der EU im Rahmen der europäischen Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik vor. Dies könne den Nato-Russland-Rat ergänzen. Merkel kündigte an, auch dies mit den Partnern in Europa zu besprechen.
Stichworte: Georgien, USA, Russland, Obama, Sprache: deutsch, Archiv: #