By Deutsche Presse-Agentur Aug 26, 2008, 17:27 GMT
The announcement by President Dimitry Medvedev Tuesday that Russia is to recognize the independence of the two Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Georgia drew near-universal condemnation from world leaders.
The United Nations, the United States, the European Union and NATO rejected Medvedev's decision, announced a day after both houses of the Russian parliament unanimously backed extending recognition to the two territories, which have long enjoyed backing from their powerful neighbour.
Dissenting voices came from the Belarus government and from the pro-Russian faction in Ukraine.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokeswoman, Michele Montas, said Ban believed the move 'may have wider implications for security and stability in the Caucasus.'
'The secretary general regrets that ongoing efforts to find a common solution within the security council may be complicated,' she said.
Ban urged the implementation of France's six-point peace plan and stressed the need to protect civilians.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice termed the decision 'regrettable.'
And she warned, while on a visit to the West Bank, that the two regions were 'part of the internationally recognized borders of Georgia, and it's going to remain so.'
'It puts Russia in opposition to a number of security council resolutions to which it is a party,' Rice said.
The French presidency of the EU 'firmly condemned' the Russian move as 'contrary to the principles of Georgia's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.'
The EU remained committed to a 'political solution to the conflict,' it said.
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said: 'I reject the decision of the Russian government to extend recognition to the South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions of Georgia.
'This is in direct violation of numerous UN security council resolutions regarding Georgia's territorial integrity - resolutions that Russia itself has endorsed,' he said.
Russia simultaneously cut a range of military and diplomatic contacts with the Western military alliance.
The Foreign Ministry in London said the British government 'categorically rejects' the Russian decision.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on a visit to the Estonian capital of Tallinn, said Medvedev's decision was 'absolutely not acceptable.'
And Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini described the Russian recognition as 'unilateral' and outside the framework of 'international legality.'
Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, current chairman of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), said the decision 'violates fundamental OSCE principles.'
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt slammed the move as 'playing with fire in the Balkans,' adding that Russia had embarked on a course of confrontation with Europe.
The Baltic states of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, all former republics of the Soviet Union that have since joined NATO and the EU, also slammed Medvedev's announcement.
Poland, a communist ally of the Soviet Union until the collapse of communism and now a member of both NATO and the EU, also condemned the decision.
The Polish Foreign Ministry urged Russia to adhere to an agreement worked out by Medvedev and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to end hostilities in Georgia earlier this month.
Bulgaria and Romania, both within the communist orbit until the Soviet Union collapsed, also condemned the move.
But members of parliament in Belarus, a neighbour and ally of Russia, supported the decision.
'I think it was an absolutely correct decision,' said Sergei Kostian, a member of the parliament international affairs committee.
'All responsible people should support Russia, so as to put an end to the unilateral influence in the world of the US and the EU,' Kostian said.
And in Ukraine, another former Soviet Union republic, political leaders were divided.
Former prime minister Viktor Yanukovich, the head of the opposition Regions party and a Moscow ally, said: 'Ukraine should respect the will of the peoples of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.'
He compared the status of the two regions to that of Kosovo and its separation from Serbia. Ukraine should recognise the independence of both regions, Yanukovich said.
But Arseny Yatseniok, a close ally of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, criticized the Kremlin, saying: 'Only the United Nations can rule on this question (of the status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.'
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SP4:Aug 26th, 2008 - 17:43:44
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