October 20 , 2006
Press Roundtable With Daniel Fried at U.S. Mission to the European
Union
Brussels
October 20, 2006
Fried: ....I came to Belgium from Tblisi and I went out to Tblisi in
the context of the Russia-Georgia tensions that are continuing..... Let
me say something about Georgia and Russia. We are obviously deeply
concerned by the ongoing tensions between the two countries. We support
Georgia's democratic and economic reforms. We support Georgia's
territorial integrity within its internationally recognized boundaries.
And we support, frankly, Georgia's aspirations to draw ever closer to
Europe and Euro-Atlantic institutions. There is no question about that.
We are working with our European friends, with the UN, and with the OSCE
to help resolve the present conflicts. Now, all of these issues are
gravely complicated by the current tensions between Geogia and Russia.
We regret these very much - in particular, the Russian sanctions against
Georgia, the embargo on wine, water, most products; the closing of the
border; the severing of air links; and most disturbing, on a kind of gut
emotional level, is the harassment of ethnic Georgians, people being
harassed it seems principally because of their nationality, in Russia
today. Deportations in which one person has died are deeply troubling
and we think it does not serve anyone's interests, nor is it consistent
with the values that prevail throughout this continent. So it is
disturbing. But we also believe that Georgia and Russia are neighbors.
They need to find ways to live together, to work together, to cooperate.
Tensions do no one any good. And we have, I will certainly share, urged
the Georgians to do everything they can to work with Russia. That was
also one of my messages.
Question from Marc Champion (WSJ-E): On Georgia. Did you say to the
Georgians, given that conflict is possible, did you say to the Georgians
that if things go wrong you must understand that the U.S. is not going
to be there?
Fried: Well, what I said was: there is no military solution to any of
these conflicts. Military options make no sense under any
circumstances. They are a terrible thing. And the Georgians, repeatedly
assured me that they look at military options with horror, as
catastrophes to be avoided. Now there have been incidents in South
Ossetia, which have disturbed a lot of us. And I made it clear that for
Georgia's part, not all those incidents were instigated by Georgians,
the South Ossetians have engaged in some dangerous and provocative
behavior, trying to shoot down a Georgian government helicopter. I said
to the Georgians, and I have said before, that they must do everything
they can to promote peaceful solutions.
Now the situation sometimes, this is for those of you who don't follow
Georgian issues, that does sound obscure for even those of us who do
follow it is complex. The Georgians, in the summer sent police forces
into a part of Abkhazia but not a part of Abkhazia that is controlled by
the Abkhaz separatist authorities, the so-called Kodory valley, which is
basically a lawless no-man's land. They did so and they have restored
some order there. The Abkhaz were worried that it was a prelude to
military actions against them, but the Georgians assured them it was
not, that they were merely restoring order in an un-governed area. And
un-governed areas quickly become havens for very bad people. So in this
case, we did not, and we have said, that we have never condemned in
principle what the Geogians did. However, any violations of ceasefire
arrangements that they may have committed in the course of that
operation, we do criticize it. I hope that's clear, because it is a
complicated issue. But the short answer to your question is: the
Georgians know perfectly well our view that military options are bad
options, and to be avoided. And we do not support military options.
Period. O.K.?
Question from Thomas Ferenczi, Le Monde: As you know, the European
leaders will meet Mr. Putin tonight in Finland. What do you think they
should say to him? What kind of message should they send?
Fried: Well, certainly all of us want to work with Russia. We want to
deepen our cooperation wherever we can. There are issues that have
caused us some concern. In this respect, I recall the recent European
Union statement about Georgia, and its concern. And that was a good
statement. I think the dialogue with Russia needs to be honest and open
and deal also with the concerns that many people have. A strong, modern
Russia is a Russia that ought to be able to get along with its
neighbors. Russia is a very large, strong, wealthy country. Georgia is
a very small country. It is in no one's interest to see these tensions
continue.
Follow-up question from Ferenczi: Aren't you concerned about what is
going on in Russia, like the freedom of the press, all these
developments?
Fried: My government expressed its concerns about the murder of the
great, the renowned journalist, Anna Politkovskaya. It was a shock, it
was dismaying. It was a murder which raised a lot of very disturbing
questions. Thirteen journalists have been murdered in Russia over the
past few years. Of course it is disturbing. Of course it is
disturbing. She was a symbol of some of the best people in Russia today
- fearless, honest, dedicated to the pursuit of truth. And, as the
American Ambassador attended her funeral and spoke, he was more eloquent
than I can be, he said: "For the sake of Russia her murderer should be
brought to justice." That was good, strong language and I can tell you
that no committee in Washington crafted it for him. It was spoken from
the heart, and well spoken.
(in responding to question on interface between EU and NATO......
Fried: ....And the question of Russia came up, and while it is true
that Georgia is an issue where we all have some concerns, we are
partners with Russia on issues like Iran and North Korea. Russia is
also a global partner. It has global interests. It is a global actor
and we work with Russia, cooperatively. I want to make that point
clear. It is not just the United States and Europe. Russia is a player
on North Korea, Iran. We look to them to be a very constructive force.
Question from Marc Champion, WSJ-E: On Russia, Putin has said only a
fool would not see that Kosovo is a precedent for Abkhazia, Ossetia and
Transnistria. He has also said several times that if Kosovo does become
independent, we may take that as a precedent. It does look like there
is a kind of train wreck coming - and because of the things that you
just talked about - where we work with Russia, it also looks like the
ability of Europe, but also of the United States, to put any pressure on
Russia to avoid that train wreck is very limited. Do you think that's
right.
Fried: It is not a question
of pressure. It is a question of what is best for the world, what
promotes stability. There is, I think, a fair presumption that
territorial integrity ought to be respected. That ought to be, as it
were, a kind of default mode. There is no question of Romania's
territorial integrity. Or Italy's, with South Tyrol. Remember that
used to be a critical issue. There is no question of Turkey's
territorial integrity. These are beyond question. The Kosovo situation
is unique. And what is the precedent? When a dictator goes to war with
NATO and loses, he has really lost. The Kosovo situation does not apply
elsewhere in the world. It doesn't apply to Spain, Quebec. There are
lots of separatists in the world. I don't believe that any responsible
leader would argue that because Milosevic engaged in ethnic cleansing
and went to war with NATO and lost, that every separatist group
therefore has a claim. It does not follow. It does not follow. I
think the Russians will come to see that. After all, the territorial
integrity of Russia is also beyond question. No one questions that and
no one should. So I think that it is very fair for Russia and other
countries in the Contact Group to look seriously at the arrangements in
Kosovo to make sure that these arrangements provide for the Serb
community and the welfare of the Serbian community in Kosovo. That is
very legitimate. But we have to be careful to do this in a responsible
way.
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