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Text File | 1994-05-02 | 12KB | 243 lines

<text> <title> Baker's Statement on The Newly Independent States </title> <article> <hdr> Foreign Policy Bulletin, May/June 1992 Relations With The Newly Independent States. Secretary Baker's Statement </hdr> <body> Secretary's Statement to Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, House Appropriations Committee, February 24, 1992 (Excerpt) Over the last three months, I have visited eleven of the twelve new states of the former Soviet Union. I have met leaders everywhere, explained our policies to them, and listened to their hopes and concerns. Last week, I completed a trip to Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Moldova. For many Americans, several of these states were just obscure names on a map just a year ago; now they stand in the front ranks of our efforts to enlarge the world's community of stable, democratic nations. This was my first-ever visit to several of these states. I return convinced that we face a once-in-a-century opportunity to shape the course of history and to define a new age for our children and grandchildren. And, I am convinced that it is an opportunity that we, in concert with our allies, must seize. The promises and risks are great: -- The prospect of close to 300 million people emerging from 70 years of totalitarian rule and charting their own democratic destiny; -- The possibilities of twelve new countries beginning the difficult process of converting from a crippling command economy to vibrant free markets; and -- Perhaps most importantly, the real prospect of putting the nightmare of great power nuclear confrontation behind us. But we should not forget that there are also risks. Most of the states of the former Soviet Union are struggling bravely to create new societies based upon representative and accountable government, the rule of law, and the free market. But they do so burdened by over seventy years of political and economic misrule. The temptations of ethnic conflict and authoritarianism remain strong. And, despite dramatic progress on arms control, nearly 30,000 nuclear weapons remain in the states of the former Soviet Union. Purposes of Trip I addressed both promises and risks during my trip to the former Soviet Union. My trip had three purposes: to meet face-to-face with the leaders of Moldova, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan and to visit Armenia; and to meet with the Russian leadership to discuss security, economic, and political issues. In Frankfurt, I joined [German] Foreign Minister [Hans- Dietrich] Genscher as Operation Provide Hope began at Rhein Main Air Base. I was pleased to see that over ten countries participated directly in this American initiative--especially Turkey and Japan, whose participation made it far easier and economical to reach cities in the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Russian far east. We expanded the number of U.S. sorties from 54 to 64 and were able to send shipments to 24 different cities across the former Soviet Union during Operation Provide Hope's two weeks of operation. The Russian leadership was particularly pleased that we were able to get food and medicine to hard-to-reach cities in Siberia, the Urals, and far north. All reports from the other independent states were very positive, with many saying that these American assistance flights were the first humanitarian shipments they had received. We understood from the beginning that these flights were substance and symbolism. The power of both should not be underestimated. Our message of hope was heard clearly across the former Soviet Union. For those whose lives were eased--perhaps even preserved--by the timely arrival of medicine and foodstuffs, these flights were substantive, indeed. We are assessing the results of Operation Provide Hope and, with our allies, looking for ways to accelerate and expand our emergency assistance programs. Questions of Diplomatic Relations From Frankfurt, I traveled to Kishinev, Baku, Ashkhabad, Dushanbe, and Tashkent to discuss with the leaders of these new states the question of diplomatic relations. At each stop, I outlined the various principles the United States expects these new states to adhere to in terms of democratic political practices, responsible security policies, and free market economics. At each stop, the Presidents of these new states gave me the assurances we need to move ahead with diplomatic relations. We have no illusions. We realize that the quality of these commitments will vary from state to state and leader to leader. That's why, at each stop, I made it clear, that even as we moved ahead with diplomatic relations, the nature and depth of those relations would depend upon continuing adherence to our principles and the fulfillment of the assurances given us. We also felt it important to move ahead with diplomatic relations so we could have a permanent American presence in these new states. At each stop, I found a large degree of goodwill toward America with people lining the streets to greet my delegation; in each of these states, a unique window of opportunity exists where both governments and publics are hungry for our help and advice. To take advantage of this opportunity, it is important to have Americans on the ground in each of these states during a difficult time of transition. We also feel this is the way to help American business assist in developing those sectors that clearly hunger for American know-how, investment, and goods. There are clear opportunities for American business, especially as markets develop and expand. And there are clear political opportunities as well to see the seeds of democracy planted in a region long thought inhospitable to political and economic freedom. Accordingly, I have set a goal of establishing embassies by March 15 in each of the states I visited. I also went to Armenia to lend our support to Armenia's fledgling democracy. In both Yerevan and Baku, I discussed Nagorno-Karabakh and told both the Armenians and the Azerbaijanis that they had their hands full with building their own independent states and that they needed to resolve Nagorno- Karabakh peacefully. I made it clear we supported Russian and Kazakh efforts to mediate the conflict, as well as the CSCE rapporteur mission. Visit to Russia: Security Issues I began my trip to Russia at the Institute for Technical Physics at Chelyabinsk-70 in the Urals. At this top secret facility in what was a closed city until a few weeks ago, I was welcomed by workers who came out to greet me and my delegation warmly and openly. With the scientists of this facility--which is comparable to our Los Alamos or Livermore labs--I discussed how we might come up with "brain gain" solutions to the "brain drain" problem. This helped us further refine the joint proposal that we have subsequently announced with Germany and Russia to set up an international scientific center to help Soviet weapons scientists. We are pleased with the positive and wide-ranging international response to this initiative which will help designers of weapons of mass destruction in all the new independent states shift their work to civilian purposes. In Moscow, I met with President Yeltsin and Foreign Minister Kozyrev for two productive days of talks. In terms of security issues, I think we've begun to define what you might call a new security partnership between Russia and America. We made real progress on a range of issues, particularly nuclear safety, security, and dismantlement. First, the United States will provide Russia with 25 safe, secure rail cars designed to transport nuclear weapons. Second, we have offered Russia 250 large specialized containers for transportation of nuclear weapons. Third, we have offered safe and secure containers for nuclear weapons components, and, if these con