Russia called on Saturday for a revival of the global coalition that brought the world together to fight terrorism after Sept. 11, 2001, but started unraveling after the US-led invasion of Iraq and what it called the subsequent domination of world affairs by a single power — a veiled reference to the US.
“The solidarity of the international community fostered on the wave of struggle against terrorism turned out to be somehow ‘privatized,’” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the UN General Assembly’s annual ministerial meeting.
He cited the US invasion of Iraq “under the false pretext of fight on terror and nuclear arms proliferation” and questions of excessive use of force against civilians in counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan.
And he said the recent crisis over Georgia’s breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia proved again that “it is impossible or even disastrous to try to resolve the existing problems in the blindfolds of the unipolar world.”
“Today, it is necessary to analyze the crisis in the Caucuses from the viewpoint of its impact on the region and the international community on the whole,” Lavrov said.
“The world has changed again” he said.
“It has become crystal clear that the solidarity expressed by all of us after 9/11 should be revived through the concepts cleared of geopolitical expediency and built on the rejection of double standards when we fight against any infringements upon the international law — be it on the part of terrorists, belligerent political extremists or any others,” Lavrov said.
Lavrov lashed out at Georgia’s “aggression” and bombing of South Ossetia’s sleeping capital of Tskhinvali on Aug. 8 and Russia’s intervention “to repel aggression” and fulfill its peacekeeping commitments.
Georgia disputes this, claiming that the Russian side initiated the conflict. The US and the EU have backed Georgia, contending that the Russian response was disproportionate.
But Lavrov made clear that Moscow would not brook any challenge to its recognition of the unilateral declarations of independence of the two breakaway provinces.
“This problem is closed now. The future of the peoples of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has been reliably secured by the treaties between Moscow [and their governments],” he said. “The situation around the two republics is finally going to be stabilized.”
Lavrov called for a new “solidarity” of the international community and a strengthened UN, saying only in the post-Cold War world can the world body “fully realize its potential” as a global center “for open and frank debate and coordination of the world policies on a just and equitable basis free from double standards.”
“This is an essential requirement if the world is to regain its equilibrium,” he said.
Declaring that Europe’s security architecture “did not pass the strength test” in Georgia, Lavrov reiterated Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s proposal in June for a new Treaty on European Security.
It would strengthen peace and stability and participants would reaffirm the non-use of force, peaceful settlement of disputes, sovereignty, territorial integrity and noninterference in another country’s affairs, he said.
Finally, he saidd, it would promote “an integrated and manageable development across the vast Euro-Atlantic region.”
Lavrov said work on the new treaty could be started at a pan-European summit and include governments as well as organizations working in the region.
He referred to it as “a kind of ‘Helsinki-2,’” a follow-up to the 1975 Helsinki Treaty between all European nations, together with the US and Canada, which evolved into the present-day Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the largest conflict-prevention and security organization on the continent.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their