Protocol as a common enemy

Russia and the West separated in safety

The 46th security conference, which brought together about 300 high-ranking politicians and experts from fifty countries, ended in Munich. They were guarded by 3,700 police officers, whose efforts made the old center of the Bavarian capital look like a besieged fortress for three days.

The level of representation this time was lower than in previous years. In 2007, then-Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a “Munich speech” at a conference that criticized Western policies. In 2009, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, US Vice President Joe Biden and the head of the Iranian parliament Ali Larijani visited here. This time, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, former US Foreign Secretary Henry Kissinger, as well as the commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF), General Stanley McChrystal, met in Munich. The Russian delegation was representative: Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and some other officials.

The path of the head of the Russian foreign policy department to the capital of Bavaria lay through Berlin. On Friday in the capital of Germany, after a working meeting with his German colleague Guido Westerwelle, he for the first time voiced Russia’s position regarding the US intention to deploy elements of a missile defense system in Romania. Mr. Lavrov said that Russia was waiting for a comprehensive explanation on this issue: “Any state should not ensure its security at the expense of others. This has been proclaimed on paper. We propose to make this a rule of law.”

Before the participants of the Munich conference, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry made a report on the Russian concept of a European security treaty. President Dmitry Medvedev put forward the initiative to sign a similar document in June 2008 in Berlin. Mr. Lavrov noted that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is not coping with its responsibilities: “One can hardly call a normal situation when the military-political realities in the Euro-Atlantic are far behind modern economic, technological, trade, investment and other processes.” Since the proclaimed principle of the indivisibility of security within the OSCE and the Russia-NATO Council is “limited only to political declarations,” Moscow proposes to conclude a new pan-European treaty. According to Lavrov, only by abandoning the bloc approaches of the Cold War and the resulting fears about “spheres of influence” will it be possible to ensure “a new quality of mutual trust, which Europe so urgently needs in modern conditions.”

During the conference, Western representatives reacted with some irritation to the new Russian military doctrine. According to NATO Secretary General Rasmussen, it “does not reflect the real world” and “clearly contradicts all efforts aimed at improving relations between Russia and NATO.” The head of the US State Department, Hillary Clinton, took part in the controversy in absentia - in an article in the influential Munich newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, she rejected the Russian idea of ​​a European security treaty and called instead for strengthening the OSCE and the Russia-NATO Council. She also called the expansion of NATO and the EU "a stimulus for stability and progress across the continent, including Russia." However, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle spoke in favor of a meaningful discussion about the Russian initiative in Munich, emphasizing the importance of a strategic partnership with Russia not only for European security, but also for solving global problems.

A big surprise for the conference organizers was the participation of Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. As stated by meeting coordinator Wolfgang Ischinger, he arrived in Munich at the initiative of Tehran. This has sparked speculation about Iran's readiness to reach an agreement with the West in the dispute over its nuclear program. To this, Mr. Westerwelle noted that in recent years, on the atomic issue, Iran “has only been stalling for time, responding with trickery and misleading the West.”

On the sidelines of the conference, a meeting between the heads of the Russian and Iranian Foreign Ministries took place, dedicated to the Iranian nuclear program. Manouchehr Mottaki jokingly reminded that there are “three bad things: alcohol, cholesterol and protocol,” noting that Mr. Lavrov came without a tie. To this the Russian replied: “If we exclude the first two things, then we will be left with a third common enemy.” In his report at the conference, the Russian minister emphasized Tehran's right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy, while pointing out the inadmissibility of a frivolous attitude towards the Iranian nuclear program, since the appearance of atomic weapons in Iran is unacceptable.

Yuri Shpakov, Berlin