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Viewing cable 09MOSCOW797, RUSSIA MARKS 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF NATO ACTIONS IN

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09MOSCOW797 2009-03-31 07:34 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Moscow
VZCZCXRO4697
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #0797/01 0900734
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 310734Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2623
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 000797 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV YI BK SR KV RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIA MARKS 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF NATO ACTIONS IN 
FRY 
 
REF: BELGRADE 246 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
1.  (SBU) On March 24, Russia marked the tenth anniversary of 
NATO's 1999 NATO bombardment of FRY with an official 
statement, a State Duma special resolution, political 
rallies, and extensive media coverage.  The MFA called for an 
assessment of NATO's actions and called for the adoption of 
Medvedev's European Security Treaty proposal.  The Duma's 
special resolution denounced the 1999 air campaign and March 
17, 2004 destruction of Serbian sites in Kosovo.  The Duma's 
International relations chair called the actions of the 
"West" hypocritical and expressed the hope the International 
Court of Justice would overturn Kosovo's declaration of 
independence.  In highlighting the anniversary, Russian 
officials and politicians addressed a domestic audience 
seeking to repudiate the "failures" of the Yeltsin 
administration with a demonstration of Russia's ability to 
counter NATO, and addressed the international community by 
arguing that NATO's actions in 1999 formed part of the basis 
for Medvedev's European Security Treaty and laid the ground 
work for Georgia's actions in South Ossetia.  End Summary. 
 
Official Statements 
------------------- 
 
2.  (U) MFA Spokesman Andrei Nesterenko released a statement 
on March 24, calling for a "sober assessment" of NATO's 
actions in 1999.  The statement also alleged that "Calls to 
let sleeping dogs lie that one hears in the West today are 
caused by one thing only - an urge to shamefacedly hide the 
blatant violation of the norms of international law that has 
become obvious, counting on military force and encouraging 
separatism."  He argued that Medvedev's European Security 
Treaty proposal would "fix" the principles of relations 
between states in the region. 
 
3.  (U) The State Duma adopted a special resolution on March 
20, denouncing both NATO's 1999 air campaign and the March 
17, 2004 events in Kosovo that led to the alleged destruction 
of Serbian churches and monasteries, and calling for Kosovo 
and Metohia to remain part of Serbia until the parties 
negotiated a settlement.  In a statement to the press, 
Konstantin Kosachev, Chairman of the Duma Committee on 
International Affairs, said that "Kosovo separatism had 
already proved to be a headache for those external sponsors." 
 Arguing that the recognition of Kosovar independence 
undermined the values the "West" allegedly defends, he 
expressed the hope that the International Court of Justice 
would overturn Kosovo's unilateral declaration.  Russian 
media also carried a March 24 interview with Russian 
Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Koluzin, in which he labeled 
NATO actions in 1999 as "aggression" and "one of the most 
tragic pages in the history book of Europe of the late 
twentieth century." 
 
Political Rallies 
----------------- 
 
4.  (U) On March 24, the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic 
Party of Russia (LDPR) held a rally at the Serbian Embassy in 
Moscow "to express solidarity with the Serbian people."  LDPR 
leader Vladimir Zhirinovskiy called the NATO actions "a 
heinous act" and slammed Russia's 1999 Yeltsin government for 
not stopping it.  Zhirinovskiy added that the current Russian 
government should help Kosovo return to Serbia, and after the 
rally the Serbian Embassy invited him to visit. 
 
5.  (U) Also on March 24, Communist Party (KPRF) leader 
Gennadiy Zyuganov called the 1999 NATO actions "the next 
stage of American globalization."  He compared U.S. actions 
to Hitler's during World War II, saying "Hitler was unable to 
subdue the Serbs . . . now the Americans tried to repeat it." 
 Echoing Zhironovskiy, Zyuganov explained that the 
"aggression" was possible because "Russia kept silent." 
 
6.  (U) Forty activists of the youth group Nashi also held a 
small ceremony in front of the Serbian Embassy.  The group 
lit candles to form the number 89, in memory of the 
eighty-nine children killed during the NATO bombing campaign, 
and held a moment of silence. 
 
In the Press 
------------ 
 
7.  (SBU) Russian airwaves, in particular, carried extensive 
 
MOSCOW 00000797  002 OF 002 
 
 
coverage and editorials on the tenth anniversary, tying it to 
the August conflict with Georgia by arguing that President 
Saakashvili used it to "unilaterally" settle the dispute. 
Duma Deputy and CIS Institute Director Konstantin Zatulin's 
editorial on the internet-based Regnum called the 1999 
airstrikes "a war against Russia, and its attempts to rebuild 
and revitalize its national dignity."  He heaped blame upon 
the Yeltsin-era government for failing to stand up to the U.S. 
 
8.  (SBU) In his statements to the press, former Russian PM 
Yevgeniy Primakov, argued in favor of Kosovo's partition 
("give the north of Kosovo to the Serbs") and of reuniting 
the Republika Srpska with Serbia.  While Primakov's 
statements are not new and are not GOR policy, they do strike 
a chord here.  At a recent dinner with the Ambassador, State 
Duma Deputy Andrey Kokoshin and retired general and Chairman 
of the All Russia Organization of Veterans Mikhail Moiseyev 
both praised Primakov for "showing spine" (reftel). 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
9.  (SBU) The GOR's pronouncements and comments from 
prominent Russian figures on the 1999 bombings were neither 
surprising nor did they differ from previous statements; 
however, they came in a crescendo, with the goal of 
supporting several Russian contentions:  the European 
security architecture was broken and the region must pursue 
Medvedev's European Security proposal; Kosovo's independence 
was a dangerous precedent that lead to South Ossetia and 
Abkhazia; and Russia was resurgent and must be dealt with as 
an equal.  For Russian nationalists, the anniversary was 
useful political red meat around which their political bases 
rallied. 
BEYRLE