Sixteen years ago, on September 10-11, 1999, Ukraine’s president, Leonid Kuchma, hosted an international summit at the Livadia Palace in Yalta on the Crimean peninsula, called “International Conference on Baltic-Black Sea Cooperation: Towards an Integrated Europe in the 21st Century Without Dividing Lines.”
The summit attracted leaders from 22 European countries (presidents and prime ministers representing 14 countries, while other countries sent ambassador-level representatives) to the venue, where 54 years prior the leaders of the Allied Forces of World War II agreed on the geopolitical map of post-war Europe that would isolate the eastern half of Europe from the West.
Participating states, besides Ukraine, included Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Russia, Slovakia and Sweden. Also represented were the European Union, the European Commission, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Council of Europe and NATO.
There was some controversy as to whether Belarus had be “un-invited” by Ukraine. Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Ministry claimed that Belarus was not a member of any of the organizations invited, and that relations between Belarus and the European Union had deteriorated. Belarus claimed that Ukraine’s decision reinforced the idea of dividing lines in Europe.
The goal of the meeting was to further integrate the former Warsaw Pact countries and new independent states of the former Soviet Union into mainstream European economic and political structures. The subjects of discussion included the continued development of a gas corridor from the Caucasus region through Ukraine to the Baltic Sea, as well as the creation of an overall security structure for all of Europe. The meeting also discussed way to resolve issues for countries that had emerged from the Iron Curtain but had yet to be included in NATO and had little hope of joining the European Union in the near future.
“I must tell you that with the Iron Curtain down there still exists the danger of a far more humane, but not less dangerous, paper curtain being put up between Eastern Europe and Western Europe,” Mr. Kuchma said.
Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski noted, “There should be no open or subtle dividing lines in Europe,” adding that Ukraine should be offered a free trade association after it gains membership in the World Trade Organization.
Russia’s representative, First Vice Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko, condemned the possibility of NATO expansion. During the opening session, he said, “The further expansion of NATO, with regard to the Baltic countries and southeastern Europe, will lead to a new dividing line and in no way to further security.”
The summit members, in an issued statement, declared the need for a joint effort and cooperation by all of Europe in resolving the continent’s problems in the 21st century, affirming “the inherent right of all states to choose the means to ensure their own security,” and expressed the need to promote beneficial cooperation among the countries; to undertake joint efforts for the resolution and prevention of conflicts; to develop economic cooperation through joint projects in the fields of energy, transport, communications, ecology and other spheres; to deepen cooperation in humanitarian fields; and to combat terrorism.
Some criticized the largely ceremonial summit in Yalta as a political stunt orchestrated for President Kuchma’s campaign for re-election. Evidence to support this included Kuchma campaign posters and advertisements that were plastered along the route from Symferopol airport to the summit location, while no other candidate endorsements were evident.
Source: “22-nation summit in Yalta seeks end to division of Europe,” by Roman Woronowycz, The Ukrainian Weekly, September 19, 1999.