EDITORIAL: Beware of big brother (01/19/97)

EDITORIAL

Beware of big brother

Our front page this week carries a news story about a letter published in the Russian-language newspaper Vsieukrainskiye Viedomosti which calls for steps to engineer the ouster of Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma. The letter, dated October 30, 1996, and labeled "top secret," is allegedly authored by Russian Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergei Krylov and addressed to Dmitrii Riurikov, foreign policy aide to President Yeltsin. The letter's author describes President Kuchma's foreign policy as "anti-Russian and destructive" and "uncompromising"; he condemns the Ukrainian president for rejecting CIS integration, his unwillingness to preserve a single Black Sea Fleet and his refusal to compromise on the status of Sevastopol.

The letter states that "the only possible means to change the firm position of Ukraine regarding the range of strategically important questions is neutralization of the personal negative influence of L.D. Kuchma." It goes on to suggest that President Kuchma could be "politically discredited" via allegations that he betrayed the national interests of Ukraine, and that Russia's contacts with the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine could be used to effect his impeachment.

The reaction from Ukraine, delivered by Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Volodymyr Khandogy was that, if the letter is genuine, it "does not correspond to civilized norms of diplomacy." He also stated that Ukraine wants an official explanation from Russia. In Moscow, the Foreign Ministry of Russia termed the publication "a provocative falsification." Mr. Krylov, the alleged author of the letter, said it "does not and could not exist."

The origins of the letter remain mysterious at press time, but it certainly should not be dismissed lightly. Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Volodymyr Horbulin said that, given the current state of relations between Ukraine and Russia, we "cannot exclude the possibility that the source is accurate." Instead, the letter's contents should be considered in the context of other recent Russian actions - especially those aimed at its "near abroad."

On January 13, Russia has made moves toward merger with Belarus. In what was described by Reuters as "a diplomatic offensive clearly aimed against NATO's expansion plans," President Boris Yeltsin send a letter to his Belarusian counterpart, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, saying that the two states should consider the idea of a referendum on unification "in one form or another." President Lukashenka welcomed the suggestion and underlined that he had "long been ready" for such a move - not strange coming from someone who said recently that he enjoys playing the role of "a junior brother" to President Yeltsin.

Simultaneously, Moscow is once again playing hardball with the Baltic states. The Open Media Research Institute reported that Foreign Minister Yevgenii Primakov told a meeting of the Russian government on January 9 that Moscow "should not be afraid to use economic sanctions" to defend the human rights of Russians living in the Baltics, and he said Russia would refuse to sign a border treaty with Estonia until the issue is resolved. The Russian newspaper Segodnya accused Moscow of dragging its feet over the treaty to hamper Estonia's integration into Western institutions and said the policy "resembles crude blackmail."

So, it is clear that Russia continues to see NATO as a threat, and it will act to counter that threat. Russia also considers it a threat that Ukraine and other independent states once part of its political orbit are now acting independently and in ways that may be contrary to Russian interests. These threats, too, must be countered. And so, Russia, the once great power in that part of the world, is reverting to the tried and true methods of "big brother."

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