Lavrov advocates Helsinki 2, a new security treaty

The speech of Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov at the UN General Assembly on Saturday September 27 should be read carefully. Even if this speech is a position, pro-domo, which tries to justify, a posteriori, the Russian action in Georgia, and that there is nothing very concrete for the moment, its analysis the way the fight against terrorism has been conducted since 2001 and its call to "revive" common Euro-Atlantic security must be seriously considered. Indeed, as Lavrov writes, after the Caucasus crisis, the situation is no longer the same as yesterday... (speech in English, Download here).

"The anti-terrorist coalition (born in 2001 from a common will) is in crisis" This is how the Russian minister first explains. He cites Iraq as an example - "where under the false pretext of combating terror and the proliferation of nuclear weapons, international law has been violated (and where) the deepest crisis has been artificially created. But it is above all "What is the acceptable cost of losing civilians in a conflict and who decides the criteria of proportionality in the use of force? "He asks himself. , evokes Lavrov, the anti-terrorist coalition seems "to be in lack of collective arrangements, for example the equality of all its members to decide on the strategy and, particularly, the tactical operations".

The privatization of international solidarity to serve a unipolar world
To control "the totally new situation created after 11/XNUMX, instead of a sincere cooperative effort, including joint analysis and coordination of concrete steps, the mechanisms tend towards the creation of a unipolar world, meaning that all decisions are made in a single center while the rest must follow". The solidarity of the international community has thus "turned out to be somewhat privatized". And to denounce, "the illusion of the unipolar world" which sows confusion. In exchange for total loyalty, they expect to see a white card to receive all their problems by any means. This "permissiveness syndrome" allowed, according to him, "out of all possible control", the bombardment of Tskhinval (by Georgia)! (...)

The risk of a chain reaction
After the crisis in the Caucasus, the "world has changed again". It becomes clear that the solidarity expressed by all after 11/XNUMX must be revived through new concepts and built on the basis of the rejection of the double standard. (...) The Caucasus crisis has proven that it is impossible or even disastrous to try to solve the existing problems with the blind folds of the unipolar world". "We can no longer tolerate attempts to settle conflict situations by breaking international agreements or by the unlawful use of force. If such a trend is not stopped, we risk a chain reaction,” he added.

A European summit to rebuild European security
"The existing security architecture in Europe has not passed the test of solidity in recent events" asserts Lavrov, who proposes to take up Medvedev's proposals made in Berlin on June 5 to develop a "treaty on security European Union, a kind of 'Helsinki2'". This work could begin with a "pan-European summit with the participation of States and all organizations working in the region".

Principles valid for the entire Euro-Atlantic region
The objective is to create a serious collective system which could "ensure equal security for all States, attested by "legally binding commitments", with a view to "strengthening
peace and stability and ultimately to promote integrated and manageable development across the Euro-Atlantic area. All participants should reaffirm their commitment to certain fundamental principles of international law such as "the non-use of force and the peaceful settlement of disputes, sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference in internal affairs, and the inadmissibility of enhancing one's own security by undermining the security of others". “Mechanisms to ensure compliance with these principles” should be put in place.