Russia Says Could Join EU Military Force

BERLIN, Nov 26, 2000 -- (Reuters) Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said
on Saturday that Russia was ready to cooperate with the European Union's new
military force.

"We consider it completely natural, the effort by Europe with their own forces to
provide for their own security," Ivanov told leading European policy makers and
analysts at a forum on Europe. "And in a crisis situation we are ready for
constructive cooperation."

European countries announced this week they would form their own rapid
reaction force outside NATO, the Atlantic alliance heavily dependent on U.S.
military might which formed the West's primary Cold War buffer against the
former Soviet Union.

EU countries said they would create a force of up to 60,000 ground troops
from the EU's 15 member states by 2003 to deal with regional conflicts and
humanitarian crises.

"The possibility of a Russian contribution in the conduct of European Union
operations in regulating crises will be studied," Ivanov said. "I am sure that this
will open good possibilities for our joint contribution to strengthening stability
and security in Europe."

Ivanov's proposal could raise U.S. fears of losing influence in European
peacekeeping operations, and his remarks sought to highlight cases where U.S.
and European interests diverged.

For example, Ivanov mentioned Europe's differences with Washington over the
possible development of a ballistic missile defense system.

"We very much appreciate that a whole series of leading European governments
have come out with us and the overwhelming majority of the world in defense of
strategic stability," he said. "One would like to believe that the series of
supporters on our continent for the preservation of the ABM treaty will expand."

Warning that a failure to following international norms would lead to chaos,
Ivanov cited the 1999 U.S.-led NATO air war against Yugoslavia as an
example of NATO gone astray.

"Unfortunately, the well-known events in the Balkans in the spring of 1999 are
evidence that such an alternative cannot be excluded," he said. "After the
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, there was again talk in the world that
maintaining security was only possible by military means, including through the
acquisition of weapons of mass destruction.

"I am sure that such a negative development of events is not in the interests of a
single European government."

He called for the European Union to be more involved in the peace process in
the Middle East.

"Russia, as a co-sponsor of the Middle East peace process believes that the
European Union should take a more active role in its international mediation," he
said. "The very proximity and approaches on these questions between Moscow
and Brussels allows us to act in tandem and if necessary, in a joint effort."

In another proposal, Ivanov called for the creation of a European monument to
the victims of repression during the Nazi era and Stalin's iron rule in the former
Soviet Union.

(C)2000 Copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or
redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without
the prior written consent of Reuters Limited.

Source:
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=224197&text

Sidney Stevens