News Conference following Russian-French Talks.Part 4
March 1, 2010
Paris
Пресс-конференция по итогам российско-французских переговоров.
1 марта 2010 года Париж
QUESTION: I have a question for both presidents. Nicolas Sarkozy just said that Russia and France must act as partners when it comes to European security. In what could this partnership consist and what is France's fundamental position on the question of the security treaty and specific proposals made by Russia's President?
And a second question for Mr Sarkozy concerning the introduction of a visa-free regime. You said that you will personally oversee this process. When should we expect its completion?
DMITRY MEDVEDEV: I will not say anything about the visa question for obvious reasons. This is not an issue for us we are ready.
As to the issue of security in Europe, I think it is a critically important one. My colleague and I were just discussing what happened in August 2008. And I said: "Nicolas, be aware that at that time these issues were not resolved via some international procedures, nor within the framework of relations between NATO and Russia. Rather, they were resolved by using the potential of the EU and the personal participation of the President of France, who at that time demonstrated courage and strength of will and, despite the fact that it was very volatile situation, came and helped us resolve this very difficult issue."
What does this imply? That we must learn to deal with our European issues. How? By using existing procedures. Are we happy with the ones we have? I for one do not like them. Because the 1975 Helsinki Final Act on Security and Cooperation in Europe is, to be sure, a very important foundation for our cooperation, but it is not enough. Europe has changed, it has different players now, and we believe that we need to create a new framework in order to discuss security issues.
President Sarkozy and I have devoted a lot of time to this topic. I believe that we are at the beginning of the process. The initiative that Russia put forward is not a dogmatic one, we are ready to update it if we have adequate opportunities to discuss security problems. And the fact that such problems exist in Europe is clear to everyone. Just look at the ones that arose after the collapse of Yugoslavia or during the Caucasus crisis of 2008.
We are ready to work, and willing to work with France and with our other partners.
PRESIDENT OF FRANCE NICOLAS SARKOZY: With regard to a visa-free regime, France will do everything possible to persuade its partners to act on similar basis in regard to Russia. We will talk about France's official position and try to persuade our partners.
We talked about the decisions taken at Evian one and a half years ago. Mr Medvedev spoke of a new security architecture. Where are we now? France is back in NATO and an ally of the United States. But I told Mr Medvedev that Russia has nothing to fear from NATO. We are very devoted to our union and our relations.
With regard to viable security architecture, this is necessary for both the EU and Russia. We must see to what extent we are faced by common threats such as terrorism, and whether or not it is in our mutual interests to think about how in our present circumstances, in times of fiscal deficit and crisis, we might work together instead of working against each other. Perhaps this is what is expected of us? If this is not our goal, why did we ever end the Cold War?
The Cold War has ended. Now Russia is not our enemy, but rather our new partner. This is the history of our continent and we must alter certain trains of thought and stereotypes in people's minds. We must pay more attention to some of Russia's initiatives. I told Mr President that if we do not do everything necessary to ensure that there is mutual respect (I mean between NATO and Russia), then nothing positive will result from this.
We must work within the framework of mutual trust. And, incidentally, I talked about the Mistral ships in precisely this context. You know these are helicopter carriers which we will build for Russia, carriers without military equipment. I would like to know how we can say to Russia: "We need you to support peace, we need your support to resolve crises and critical situations around the world, such as in Iran, but at the same time, we do not trust you and do not want to work with you on Mistral deal, for example? This is absolutely unthinkable. It is impossible to say in the morning: "Mr Medvedev, I trust you, please vote for us in the Security Council." And then to say in the afternoon: "No, I'm sorry: we do not trust you, so we cannot deliver the Mistral." After all, there is no consistency in this position.
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Ele também é bem bonitinho!
Lutchenka1 2 years ago