U.S. Senate Committee Discussed Developments in Black Sea Region

On March 8 the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a hearing on Future of Democracy in the Black Sea Area. At the hearing, which involved discussions over the U.S. policy towards the region, Russia’s role, conflict resolution issues, democracy development, the U.S. Senate Committee listened to the testimonies delivered by John Tefft, the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs; Bruce Jackson, who chairs the Washington-based Project for Transitional Democracies and Vladimir Socor, a Senior Fellow at the Washington-based think-tank Jamestown Foundation.

Conflicts

John Tefft, the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs said at the Senate Committee hearing, that Russian-backed separatist conflicts in the region “impede nation-building and democratization in a number of the Black Sea region’s countries.”

“Russian support for separatists in other countries appears to be means in part of maintaining levers of influence in Moldova and Georgia,” he stated.

“Progress in Georgia is hampered by ongoing separatist conflicts in South Ossetia and Abkhazia; the international community should stand firm to encourage Georgia to resolve these conflicts peacefully… we support President Saakashvili’s goal of reuniting the country, and encourage Georgia to resolve the conflicts in South Ossetia and Abkhazia in a peaceful manner,” Tefft said.

He also called the Georgian government to intensify internal reforms that will strengthen the economy and “create incentives for the separatist regions to integrate into Georgia.”

Bruce Jackson, the President of the Washington-based Project for Transitional Democracies said that conflicts in Transdnestria, Moldova and Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia, threaten both the Europe’s and United States interests and called on the EU and Washington for more active involvement in the conflict resolution issues.
 
“In Transdnestria, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, transnational crime has found a home and developed a base for trafficking in weapons, drugs, women and children. These criminal enterprises destabilize the governments of the region, threaten Europe with illicit traffic, and ultimately pose a danger to the United States with their capability and intent to sell weapons and technology to our enemies,” Bruce Jackson said.

He also said that the United States should “prioritize” resolution of the ‘frozen conflicts’ in the region. “We must show far greater resolve and enthusiasm when parties take a meaningful step towards peace. President Misha [Mikheil] Saakashvili’s enlightened peace plan for South Ossetia has been greeted by a resounding silence in Brussels and Washington, which is dumbfounding. It is also callous and derelict,” Bruce Jackson said, referring to the South Ossetia peace proposal voiced by President Saakashvili at the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe in January.

Vladimir Socor, a Senior Fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, said that Russia, which is “largely responsible for sparking or fanning these conflicts” has an interested in keeping these conflicts, “so as to pressure Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Moldova and thwart their Euro-Atlantic integration.”

“Russia’s policy consists of freezing not the conflicts as such, but the rather the negotiating processes, which Russia itself dominates. The U.N. and OSCE, left largely to their own devices, have merely conserved these conflicts,” Vladimir Socor added.

Russia/Military Bases/OSCE

While speaking about Russia’s policy towards the Black Sea region, John Tefft said that Moscow shares the U.S. desire for stability, “but appears to interpret stability in a fundamentally different way.”

“Russia has been critical of the programs the EU is pursuing under its Neighborhood Policy to create a string of well-governed states on the EU’s border and that in the Black Sea region, which explicitly includes Georgia and Ukraine. Russia defines stability as preservation of the status quo, with regimes it knows well,” Tefft stated.

“For the same reason, Russia has been slow to close its remaining bases in Georgia and remove its troops from Transdnestria. We also continue to support talks between Georgia and Russia on the 1999 Istanbul commitments to reach agreement on the status and duration of remaining Russian bases in Georgia,” Tefft said.

The U.S. Department of State officials also said that Russia remains extremely sensitive over a possible U.S. military role in the region. “This can be seen particularly in the pressure that Russia has placed on Georgia to agree to a “no foreign bases” clause in a Georgia Russia Framework Treaty, and it can be seen also in Russia’s displeasure over the U.S. Georgia Train and Equip Program (GTEP) and Sustainment and Stability Operations Program (SSOP) to train Georgian forces,” he added.

“We have made clear to Moscow at very senior levels that we have no plans for establishing U.S. bases in Georgia,” Tefft stated.

The U.S. official said that Washington is concerned regarding Russia’s veto to prolong the mandate of the OSCE border monitors, who were observing troubled Chechen, Ingush and Daghestani section of Russo-Georgian Border. “We are also urging Russia to stop obstructing an Organization of Security Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) border monitoring operation [BMO] along the Chechnya portion of the Russian-Georgian border. We believe this monitoring operation has played an important role in deterring the possible movement of international terrorists and Chechen fighters between Russia and Georgia,” he said.

Bruce Jackson said that Georgia encounters “continuous obstruction from Russia.” He said that late last year, Russia blocked the OSCE from reinforcing a mission in breakaway South Ossetia “in order to protect its ability to ship prohibited weapons and explosives through the Roki Tunnel [which links Russia with South Ossetia] to paramilitary gangs in South Ossetia.”

Bruce Jackson also said that Russia’s actions, including against OSCE border monitoring operation, “could very well prove to be the death knell for the OSCE.”

In his testimony Vladimir Socor emphasized on OSCE 1999 Istanbul Treaty in regard of removal of Russian bases from Georgia and said that “the Istanbul Commitments are dead.”

“Since 2002, Moscow has rejected the very notion that it had made “commitments” in Istanbul to withdraw its troops from Georgia and Moldova. The OSCE itself all along termed those Russian commitments only “politically binding,” as distinct from legally binding; i.e., not binding in practice. All these concessions notwithstanding, the OSCE is no longer able since 2003 even to cite its own 1999 decisions, because Russia has easily vetoed such references in the organization’s routine year-end resolutions. Realistically speaking, the Istanbul Commitments are dead,” Vladimir Socor said.

“Since 2004, moreover, Moscow threatens to destroy the OSCE by blocking the adoption of the organization’s budget and terminating certain OSCE activities. Russia does not want to kill the OSCE, but rather to harness and use the weakened organization. Under these circumstances, no one can possibly expect the OSCE to resurrect the Istanbul Commitments,” he added.

Regional Cooperation, GUUAM

John Tefft said that the Unites Sates will support targets enhancing regional cooperation. He said that the U.S. assistance to CIS states – Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova, together with Uzbekistan, which form GUUAM, will enable “these countries to cooperate in law enforcement and harmonize their trade and transportation regimes.”

“Last week (March 2) in Chisinau Presidents Saakashvili, Yushchenko, and Voronin jointly called for revitalizing GUUAM as Moldova assumes chairmanship next month [in April],” John Tefft said.

But Bruce Jackson said that regional initiatives, such as “the confused GUUAM” or the moribund Black Sea Economic Cooperation forum have not filled the gap.”

“As a consequence, we should engage with regional leaders, such as Romanian President Basescu, Georgian President Saakashvili, and Ukrainian President Yushchenko, on the formation of new structures for a Black Sea strategy,” Bruce Jackson added.