RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR ON NATO, EUROPEAN SECURITY, AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USNATO 000060 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL NATO GG RS SUBJECT: RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR ON NATO, EUROPEAN SECURITY, AND GEORGIA USNATO 00000060 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. Summary: Russian Ambassador to NATO Dmitri Rogozin presented his views on NATO's Strategic Concept, the European Security Treaty, and the status of Georgia's borders during a January 29 discussion hosted by the EastWest Institute. Rogozin pondered NATO's past and future, arguing that enlargement had saddled the Alliance with unstable countries and asking how NATO proposed to reconcile its Article 5 commitments with the new challenges taken up in the Strategic Concept. He explained that the proposed European Security Treaty showed that Moscow intended to assume its traditional role as a European power, and described a new European security architecture that resembled a Russian matryoshka doll with different layers of alliances and security guarantees Rogozin said it would be "dangerous" for NATO to accept Georgia as a member and thought that settling unresolved issues in the region should be left to the next generation. End Summary. NATO Strategic Concept -------------- ¶2. Russian Ambassador to NATO Dmitri Rogozin covered a range of topics during a January 29 discussion on NATO-Russia organized by the EastWest Institute. Ranging from serious to sarcastic, Rogozin spoke about the NATO Strategic Concept, European Security Treaty (EST),and Georgia before an audience consisting of diplomats and academics in Brussels and, via video link, New York. Rogozin said that he looked forward to a new NATO Strategic Concept that would foster pan-European security and not "antagonize" relations with partners. He asked how NATO would reconcile its Article 5 commitments with the new challenges that the Alliance wanted to tackle, such as energy and cyber security. ¶3. Rogozin questioned the logic of NATO enlargement, stating that if the Alliance enlarged its space it needed to enlarge its ability to defend that space. He argued that enlargement had not been carried out in an organized manner but as a spontaneous reaction to fill a void in Europe caused by the end of the Cold War. As a result, NATO had gained countries with internal instability and external conflicts that had destabilized the Alliance. Czech PermRep to the UN Martin Palous responded that the process of NATO and EU enlargement had successfully democratized former communist states. Rogozin shot back that the democratic process developed in �00A;other countries as well, adding that he had not been a member of the Communist Party as had some of the other Ambassadors he sat with on the NATO-Russia Council. European Security -------------- ¶4. Rogozin explained that Medvedev's EST proposal was an attempt by Russia to assume its historic role and traditional influence in Europe. He thought it "strange" that reaction to the EST has been what he described as either silence or suspicion that the proposal was a Russian plot, and argued it should properly be seen as a means to better integrate Russia into Europe. He complained that Russia's partners had failed to understand that they had been invited to a discussion on how to make Europe more stable. ¶5. Rogozin stated that Europe needed a new, more sustainable security system that he compared to a Russian matryoshka doll. On the exterior was a common security perimeter stretching from Vancouver to Vladivostok. Within were alliances and organizations such as NATO, the CSTO and EU, each of which had their own "competencies and tasks." Rogozin described NATO as an alliance that was reaching "pensioner age" and the CSTO as a youngster still finding its way. At the core were individual states that had security guarantees either as part of an alliance or individually. Rogozin hoped that the NATO-Russia Council would help Europe move toward this goal. ¶6. Rogozin proposed demilitarizing the borders of NATO and Russia by "bringing life" back to arms control, including ratifying the adapted CFE Treaty. Accomplishing this task would require addressing flank limitations that "cut Russia in two." Russia was also interested in confidence building measures that would help avoid potentially dangerous USNATO 00000060 002.2 OF 002 developments on its border with NATO. Georgia -------------- ¶7. Rogozin said that Georgia's territorial problems made it "dangerous" for NATO to accept the country as a member. He called Georgia's internationally recognized border into question, referring to it as a "Stalinist border" that had forced the Abkhaz and South Ossetians into the Georgian SSR. He thought that with the Soviet collapse it was only fair that these nationalities had a chance to regain their independence. Rogozin doubted that it would be possible to "settle the Caucasus" anytime soon and thought the issue should be left to the "next generation." This prompted Pierre Morel, the EU Special Representative for Central Asia, to respond that he was "stunned" by Rogozin's fatalism and failure to see a way forward on Georgia. DAALDER