Vienna document on confidence-building measures may be revitalized by

VIENNA (Itar-Tass) - The Vienna document on confidence and
security-building measures in Europe of 1999 can be revitalized at the
OSCE ministerial meeting in Vilnius in early December this year. As the
director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's department of security affairs
and disarmament, Mikhail Ulyanov, has said the talks on the modernization
of this document have been running for almost a year, and it is hoped that
the new version can be agreed by December.
"Finding a consensus in the format of 56 states with different
interests and priorities, is not easy," he said. "In these conditions the
correct orientation will be not towards a radical upgrade of the Vienna
document, but towards its piece-meal improvement. It is necessary, in
particular, to ensure the improvement of transparency. This can be done in
two ways - "vertically," in other words, by arithmetically lowering the
"ceiling" of notifications and building up verification activity, or
"horizontally," by agreeing on the distribution of new layers of military
activities, still remaining outside the scope of information exchanges."
"Of course, both of these options are viable," the diplomat went on to
say. "But we see the latter as more promising, for it allows for
introducing qualitatively new options of openness in the military sphere.
This, in particular, is the aim of the Russian proposal to expand the
measures of trust and security to naval capabilities, as well as on early
notifications concerning military transit in large quantities and the
deployment of a multinational rapid reaction force. We can add one more
Russian initiative - prior notification of the largest military activities
below the thresholds of the Vienna document."
The Russian side is counting on the constructive consideration of its
proposals. Furthermore, in the context of the modernization of the Vienna
Document it might be worth considering an improvement of Chapter 3 with
respect to reducing the danger of war," the diplomat said. In its current
form this section, as the experience of its use by Russia and Georgia in
May-June 2008 indicated, is unlikely to help settle the contradictions. On
the table there is the Netherlands' proposal for strengthening the crisis
potential of the OSCE by agreeing on a new variety of inspections in areas
where the potential for conflict is brewing. This idea might be examined
carefully, but in a way that would ensure decisions to dispatch inspectors
should be taken by consensus and the new procedure could not be abused."
Mikhail Ulyanov on Friday spoke at the closing session of the annual
conference of the OSCE that reviewed security concerns. He drew attention
to the Russian project for further action by the OSCE in the sphere of
arms control and confidence-building measures and security. This document
was supposed to be taken a year ago at the summit in Astana, but a
consensus failed to be reached then: three countries from the CIS region
attempted to link the adoption of the document with solutions of their
local crises. Nevertheless, the project remains on the agenda and there is
a chance it may be adopted in Vilnius.

.Socialist International should actively support democracy in Arab
East - Mironov.

VULIAGMENI, Greece, July 2 (Itar-Tass) -- The Socialist International
should be more active in furnishing support for democratic forces and
peoples in the countries of the Arab East in their striving for a new
world - freer, fairer and more humane, where democracy will thrive, the
leader of the Fair Russia party, Sergei Mironov, said on Friday. He was
speaking at a two-day meeting of the Council of the Socialist
International in the seaside Athens suburb Vouliagmeni.
The world has witnessed quite a few dramatic political events since
the previous meeting of the Socialist International in Paris in November
2010, he said.
"The so-called Arab spring proved a major test for the international
community. It produced a very different situation in the Middle East and
North Africa. Apparently, the consequences of events that we have
witnessed in the region will cause negative effects on world politics in
the short and medium term," he warned.
Mironov believes that the Socialist International may make a major
contribution to the process of overcoming the crisis in the region.
"Of course, the proper conclusions will have to be derived from the
situation our organization has found itself in now," he said. "As is
known, the Constitutional Democratic Rally in Tunisia and the
National-Democratic Party in Egypt have been involved in events as parties
that the regimes of Ben Ali and Mubarak had relied on. It has turned out
that our organization fell behind time. It failed to sense at the right
moment the protest sentiment of the people, who wished change. Mass
protests resulted in the overthrow of those regimes."
The Fair Russia leader declared that Russia's socialists welcome the
decision of the Socialist International to expel the mentioned parties
from the organization.
"That decision met the aspirations of the people of both countries,"
he said. "We also believe that the Socialist International might define
its position more clearly towards Libya and to come out for the search of
ways of a peace settlement of the conflict and against armed intervention
from outside.