RUSSIA has told the United States and the European Union to mind their own business after they attacked President Putin’s plans to tighten his grip on power in the wake of the Beslan school massacre.
The dispute is part of an extraordinary three-way row between the world’s main power blocs as the War on Terror and the conflict in Iraq continue to fracture international relations.
Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, hit back at the EU-US criticism, telling them to stop interfering in Russia’s internal affairs, and warning the US against trying to impose its own model of democracy.
Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, said on Monday night that Mr Putin was “pulling back on some of the democratic reforms”. His words were amplified last night by President Bush. “As governments fight the enemies of democracy, they must uphold the principles of democracy,” Mr Bush said.
But Mr Lavrov angrily shrugged off the criticism. “The processes that are under way in Russia are our internal affairs,” he declared. “And it is strange that, while talking about certain ‘pulling back’ on some of the democratic reforms in the Russian federation, (Powell) tried to assert yet one more time the thought that democracy can only be copied from someone else’s model.”
Advertisement
Mr Lavrov reminded Americans that after the September 11 attacks in 2001, the US had been forced to take tough and controversial security steps to combat terrorism, and added: “We, for our part, do not comment on the US system of presidential elections.”
Since the attacks on aircraft and the Beslan school by militant Chechen separatists in recent weeks, Mr Putin has tightened his grip on Russian media and made proposals that will abolish direct elections for regional governors. He also wants to change the elections to state dumas (parliaments) in a way that will make it harder for a strong opposition to emerge.
The plans have caused a storm of protest from his political rivals, who say that Mr Putin is violating the post-Soviet Constitution and exploiting the Beslan bloodshed to stamp out opposition.
Mr Lavrov made his riposte after the US Government ratcheted up its criticism of Mr Putin’s plans, suggesting that it could be difficult to help Russia because it was becoming more secretive. Richard Armitage, General Powell’s deputy, went further yesterday, hinting that the US may withdraw assistance in fighting terrorism: “We will try to support the Russian Federation where we understand its policies and where we understand its strategies,” he said. “We are a little disappointed that recently it seems that the Russian Federation has got a little bit more secretive about their strategies. As we go forward, I hope the Russian Federation will clear up all of this, just how she intends to prosecute this War on Terror.”
The EU joined in the attack on President Putin’s plans. Chris Patten, the External Relations Commissioner, told the European Parliament in Strasbourg that the solution to the Chechen tragedy depended on the pursuit of “far-sighted, human and resolute” policies in Moscow.
Advertisement
“I hope . . . the Government of the Russian Federation does not conclude that the only answer to terrorism is to increase the power of the Kremlin,” he said. “Frankly, there is not much good history on the side of that proposition. The fight against terrorism does not justify or excuse the abuse of human rights. The challenge for Russia is to put in place a leadership in Chechnya in which the population of Chechnya has confidence.”
The open row is a sign of the increasingly fractious relationship between Russia and the US and EU as international concern grows about what some have said is a slide back to authoritarianism in the former Soviet state.
Immediately after the Beslan massacre, Bernard Bot, the Foreign Minister of the Netherlands, which holds the rotating EU presidency, questioned how the tragedy could have happened, prompting a furious response from the Kremlin that the fault lay with the terrorists.
European and American leaders tempered their criticism with sympathy for Russia. Mr Armitage insisted that terrorism could never be justified, however bad the situation in Chechnya.
Tensions between the EU and US also rose, with Mr Patten insisting that the world deserved better than American “testosterone”, which had done nothing to bring peace and democracy to the Middle East. But he welcomed more recent moves by the United States to enlist international support as the situation in Iraq deteriorates.