23 March 2004 01:49
Putin sends minister to Kosovo
Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has sent Sergei Shoigu, his
emergencies minister, as a special envoy to Kosovo, signalling new efforts by
Moscow to take a leading diplomatic role in the Balkans.
Mr Shoigu flew to Serbia-Montenegro with a promise of aid for 3,600 Kosovo
Serbs, who were last week forced from their homes by ethnic Albanian rioters
in Serbia's breakaway province.
Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said Moscow would bring up the
issue of Kosovo at an April 2 meeting of the Russia-Nato Council.
The move comes after Mr Putin last week criticised attacks on Serbs as
"ethnic cleansing" and called for a tough reaction to defend the
Serbs. However, Yuri Fedotov, a deputy foreign minister, stressed that Russia
had no intention of sending troops to take part in any peacekeeping
operation.
Russia has taken a more low-key approach to Kosovo since 1999, when Yevgeny
Primakov, the then prime minister, famously turned around his US-bound flight
in mid-Atlantic after being told that Nato was about to begin bombing.
Russian troops then surprised Nato by seizing control of Pristina airport and
the media focused on atrocities against Serbs. But while still periodically
criticising the wisdom of the conflict, Russia has since withdrawn its
contribution to the international peacekeeping force.
Nato and the United Nations face difficult challenges after the province of
2m people, governed by the UN, last week suffered its worst ethnic violence
since the civil war five years ago.
Tough measures by the military alliance's 18,500-strong force in Kosovo,
including blocking all roads, have helped to quell to widespread mob violence
directed at the province's Serb minority.
Yet as calm was being restored, Mr Putin stated at the weekend: "Russia
cannot indifferently watch what is happening" in the province. Mr
Shoigu's visit was swiftly arranged with leaders in Belgrade.
Mr Putin's quickness to act betrays an eagerness to re-engage in the
Balkans, where until recently it was an important influence diplomatically.
Separately, the European Union yesterday warned Kosovo's Albanian
leaders that violence and "ethnic cleansing" against the Serb
minority would not speed up their drive towards independence from Serbia.
In an unusually blunt statement, EU foreign ministers called on leaders in
the province "in particular the Kosovo Albanian leadership, to take
responsibility for the situation and ensure that threats and violence
end."
The ministers made it clear that the credibility of Kosovo's leaders and
"a European perspective" for the province were now at stake, a
reference to Kosovo's inability to protect the minorities and protect
private and religious property.
[EUROPE] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
