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NATO Parliamentary Assembly
12 October 2000 |
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(...) 10. This is, of course, the case of Russia, which renders NATO's
involvement in
any European conflict very delicate. Western countries are faced with a dilemma. Pending the consolidation of a real European defence capacity, they have no instrument but NATO at their disposal once they have determined that they need to use force. On the other hand, for the sake of Europe's security as a whole, Western governments have no choice but to consider Russia as a security partner. The two requirements are not easily compatible. As shown during the Kosovo crisis, despite strenuous Western efforts to involve Moscow in the management of the conflict - through the Contact Group, the G8, the Chernomyrdin-Ahtisaari mission, the eventual return to the Security Council with Resolution 1244, and Russia's subsequent participation in KFOR - in the eyes of the Russians, NATO's unilateral military operation against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) basically meant that their opinion could be discarded. Indeed, the crisis in Kosovo dealt a very hard blow to the already deeply wounded pride of the former superpower. One of the big challenges of the development of the CESDP will be to ensure that it does not trigger a reassessment by Moscow of its relatively benevolent analysis of Europe's current efforts. (...) |
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