International

Russia gets a bigger role in NATO

By Batuk Gathani

The Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov (left) meets the NATO Secretary-General, George Robertson (centre) and the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, in Reykjavik on Tuesday. -- Reuters.

BRUSSELS MAY 15 . The 19 member-States of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and Russia are entering a new relationship, more than 50 years after the foundation of the alliance and a decade after the end of the Cold War.

At a summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, NATO Foreign and Defence Ministers yesterday approved an agreement in which Russia was accepted into the alliance. The new NATO-Russia Council will co-operate on issues related to terrorism, arms control, international crisis management, peacekeeping and civil-emergency planning.

While all members involved hailed the strengthening of relations, senior officials on both sides cautioned that success would depend on how the summit rhetoric was backed by action. It remains to be seen what tangible benefits NATO can give to the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, to promote economic and structural reforms.

Many Russians are still suspicious of NATO — a Cold War alliance formed in opposition to the Warsaw Pact. As the former head of the Russian Defence Ministry's Department of International Military Cooperation, Leonid Ivashov, said: "This is just a diplomatic game, a way to sugar the pill of NATO expansion into eastern Europe and former Soviet Baltic republics later this year."

Russia's hardline politicians share this perception, seeing their country's new relationship with NATO and the West as a "blow" to Russian national interests.

According to Western observers, such pessimistic observations represent a "minority" view, as Russians are also extremely worried about the growing clout of Islamic extremism in the Central and West Asian regions.

The Russian establishment is paying special attention to issues related to counter-terrorism and Russia and NATO have agreed to conduct "joint threat assessments" of their troops, civilian aircraft and critical infrastructure. Mr. Putin and NATO leaders are to meet again in two weeks in Rome — when for the first time, Russia will sit as an "equal partner" at the NATO conference table. The agreement gives Russia a bigger role in NATO decision-making on certain issues related to global terrorism and weapons of mass destruction; however, as an "associate" member, Russia will not participate in any decision-making related to NATO's military initiatives.

As the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, said: "We believe we can lay the foundation of new co-operation between NATO and Moscow while fully protecting the alliance's ability to act independently."

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