Church Tensions Aggravated By Ukraine's Seizure of Video

21 July 2008Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have again spilled over into religious affairs, as the Russian Orthodox Church on Sunday accused Ukrainian officials of stifling freedom of speech and covering up an imminent schism within the church.

Following a seizure of several videotapes belonging to a reporter from Moscow's TV Center channel, the Moscow Patriarchate said the move "causes great concern," Interfax reported Sunday.

"Apparently, there are representatives of the Ukrainian authorities who do not shy away from gross violations of freedom of speech to achieve the goal they have been set: to conceal from people the truth about the schism for the sake of creating some sort of new 'single, local' church," Nikolai Balashov, a spokesman for the Moscow Patriarchate told Interfax Religion.

There are a number of Orthodox groupings in Ukraine, with one remaining part of the Moscow Patriarchate and the largest split off into the Kiev Patriarchate. The Kiev Patriarchate is not recognized by any of the world's other Orthodox churches.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has talked of establishing one national patriarchate, separate from Moscow, talk that has threatened to further split Orthodox Christians in the country.

A reporter for TV Center's Postscriptum program shot footage for a report about a possible further split within the church in Ukraine, and Ukrainian customs officials seized "three or four tapes" with the footage at the Borispol airport Thursday evening, Poscriptum's anchor, Alexei Pushkov, told Interfax.

Pushkov described the move as "the start of an information war against Russia," and in line with moves like barring Mayor Yury Luzhkov from traveling to Ukraine.

In May, Luzhkov, whose government owns TV Center, was barred from returning after he made comments in Sevastopol that the city should be ceded back to Russia. Russia holds a lease on the port until 2017.

Moscou propose un "pacte de sécurité" paneuropéen

LE MONDE | 17.07.08 | 12h59 • Mis à jour le 17.07.08 | 14h03

e nouveau président russe, Dmitri Medvedev, s'efforce de promouvoir auprès des Occidentaux son idée de "pacte de sécurité" paneuropéen, lancée le 5 juin lors d'un discours à Berlin. Ce projet encore flou est accueilli avec un mélange de scepticisme et de perplexité par les chancelleries européennes, qui y décèlent le signe d'une volonté russe d'affirmer son rôle incontournable sur les questions stratégiques touchant à l'avenir du continent et à son architecture de sécurité.

Cet activisme diplomatique vise, selon certains, à tirer profit de la désunion et des faiblesses de l'Europe, ainsi que de la transition politique aux Etats-Unis. "Il y a, à Moscou, une réflexion sur la négociation d'ensemble qui pourrait être menée pour consolider des "lignes rouges" en Europe ", nous dit une source au siège de l'Organisation pour la sécurité et la coopération en Europe (OSCE). Le Kremlin chercherait à obtenir, par le biais d'un grand marchandage, un droit de veto sur tout élargissement ultérieur de l'OTAN, un blocage du projet américain de bouclier antimissile en Europe, et des perspectives de neutralité pour l'Ukraine, la Moldavie et la Géorgie. "C'est la méthode du cran d'arrêt", dit cette source à l'OSCE, observant qu'en coulisses, "la neutralité de la Moldavie est récemment devenue le coeur du débat pour les Russes ".

Ce vaste marchandage impliquerait le sort des "conflits gelés" aux pourtours de l'Europe (Transnistrie, Abkhazie, Ossétie du Sud), les crises du Moyen-Orient comme le nucléaire iranien, l'approvisionnement de l'Europe en hydrocarbures et le désarmement. "Ce serait un paquet d'une complexité inouïe", commente-t-on à l'OSCE.

Le 7 juillet, en marge du sommet du G8 au Japon, le chef du Kremlin a mis sa proposition sur la table, lors d'entretiens bilatéraux avec Nicolas Sarkozy et la chancelière allemande, Angela Merkel. Il a aussi développé son idée, à Moscou, devant des diplomates russes.

L'idée exposée le 5 juin par M. Medvedev consiste à "élaborer un traité légalement contraignant sur la sécurité européenne, auquel les organisations existant actuellement dans l'espace euro-atlantique pourraient devenir parties". Un "pacte régional " fixerait les conditions de l'emploi de la force "dans les relations au sein de la communauté euro-atlantique". Ce qui, selon certains analystes, revient à un droit de regard sur les opérations de l'OTAN. Ce pacte, a ajouté M. Medvedev, "pourrait parvenir à une résolution générale des questions de sécurité et de contrôle d'armements en Europe". Depuis 2007, en dépit de multiples tentatives américaines pour un compromis, Moscou a décidé un moratoire sur le Traité sur les armes conventionnelles en Europe, négocié au sein de l'OSCE.

Car, pour le président russe, "l'atlantisme a vécu, nous devons (donc) parler d'unité au sein de tout l'espace euro-atlantique, de Vancouver à Vladivostok". Se référant à l'Acte final d'Helsinki de 1975, M. Medvedev semble proposer qu'une nouvelle entité soit créée à la place de l'OSCE, qui regroupe 56 Etats, précisément de Vancouver à Vladivostok.

Chose marquante, M. Medvedev a proposé que, dans la préparation de cet accord paneuropéen, les Etats agissent "à titre individuel, laissant de côté toute allégeance à des blocs ou autres groupes", en fonction de leurs seuls "intérêts nationaux" et sans "motivations idéologiques déformantes". Une formulation semble-t-il destinée à marginaliser le rôle de l'UE, de l'OTAN, et les valeurs que ces organisations entendent incarner.

Alors qu'un "partenariat stratégique" est en négociation entre la Russie et l'Union européenne sous présidence française, une source à l'Elysée a émis des réserves face au plan de M. Medvedev : "Nous accueillons cela dans un esprit positif, tant que ce n'est pas une duplication de l'OSCE." Le 7 juillet, devant des journalistes, M. Sarkozy a déclaré que si Moscou propose "un arc de sécurité de Vancouver à Vladivostok, ça mérite d'être étudié".

Aucun dirigeant occidental n'a formellement donné suite aux idées de M. Medvedev, qui, selon des diplomates, tiennent du ballon d'essai. Moscou demande en effet depuis des années une refonte des règles en vigueur au sein de l'OSCE, notamment pour ce qui concerne ses institutions chargées du suivi de l'évolution des Etats en matière de démocratisation.

L'offre de M. Medvedev se veut en tout cas plus conciliante, dans sa tonalité, que ce discours aux accents de guerre froide prononcé en février 2007 à Munich par son prédécesseur, Vladimir Poutine. Les Russes, disent des diplomates, posent des jalons, mais ne s'attendent pas à une réponse avant l'installation d'une nouvelle administration américaine.

Poland pushes for Eastern Partnership initiative 16.07.2008

Poland pushes for Eastern Partnership initiative 16.07.2008
Poland continues to promote its first serious initiative within the European Union since the country joined the structures in 2004. The Eastern Partnership initiative, as it is called was presented by the Polish PM Donald Tusk during a summit in Brussels last month. The project aims at deepening the co-operation between the EU and its eastern neighbors, and so far has the support of, among others, Germany, Sweden, Great Britain and Denmark.


The project of the Eastern Partnerhsip which was officially proposed to the EU during the June summit in Brussels states that a forum for regional cooperation of the 27 EU countries with Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia should be created. The forum is to be used for specific projects in the area of, for example, environmental protection or energy with the central role to be played by the European Commission. The strengthening of cooperation with EU's eastern neighbours is also to be a priority for the Czech presidency, which starts on 1 January next year. Poland's Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski reiterated these goals during his recent visit to Moldova where he pledged assistance in that country's EU aspirations:

'We are ready to offer training to Moldovan diplomats at our foreign ministry. Also, to Moldovan police at Police Academy and we are every year increasing developmental assistance to Moldova.'

The Eastern Partnership is to be based on the existing European Neighbourhood Policy. The goals to be achieved are: visa-free travel and creating a free-trade initiative. The Eastern Partnership projects are to be financed from the EU budget but individual member states can also earmark some funds in theirs. Poland is counting on some projects to be co-financed by the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Leszek Jesień is na expert from the Polish Institute of International Affairs in Warsaw:

'We have simultaneous approach of two sides: the French initiative of the Mediteranean Union towards the south and we have this Polish-Swedish that goes into the eastern direction. I think it should be interesting for all the EU member states in a sense that it gives this kind of diversification or variety of instruments within the neighbourhood policy. We need to see what kind of proposals we can put into the initiative in order to evaluate what kind of problems or successes we can expect in the future. At this stage it is only a conceptual framework.'

Oskar Chomicki of "Poland in Europe" Foundation says that having such an initiative may strengthen the EU as it would allow countries like Poland to have specific objectives to fulfill.

'I think it's a very good idea especially in the light of the official character of that initiative because so far all Polish initiatives directed at or having in mind the eastern countries have rather been informal. I think thanks to the official character of this initiative this fact may be of quuite great importance. Especially if you think of it in parallel to what was initiated by president Sarkozy. And I think Poland has a role to play in this eastern initiative.'

According to Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, the strengthening of the eastern dimension of the bloc's 'neighbourhood policy' will be the priority of Poland's presidency in the European Union in the second half of 2011.

Romania becomes biggest importer of products from Republic of Moldova

Romania ranks first in terms of volume of imports from the Republic of Moldova, January through May this year, pushing thus the Russian Federation on the second position.

Romania imported goods worth 123.4 million dollars from Moldova in the said interval, which is an increase by 59% on the January-May 2007 interval. According to the data provided by the Office for National Statistics (BNS) from the Republic of Moldova, Romania accounts for 20% of the Moldovan exports.

For the first time this year, Romania pushed the Russian federation on the second position as importer from the Republic of Moldova. Russia acquired products from this country worth 122.5 million dollars, being followed by Italy, with 67.6 million and Ukraine, with some 55 million dollars.

In terms of exports to the Republic of Moldova, Romania ranked 3rd, with 246.5 million dollars in the first five months of the year, that is an increase by 1.7% on the same interval a year before. The first exporter to the Republic of Moldova is Ukraine, with more than 303 million dollars, followed by Russia with 266 million.

Biserica rusă împotriva comunismului -- Timpul

Patriarhia Moscovei a chemat Kremlinul să condamne oficial comunismul nu numai prin vorbe, dar şi prin fapte şi să distrugă toate monumentele liderilor sovietici. Declaraţia a fost făcută săptămâna trecută de către preotul Gheorghi Reabîh, secretarul Direcţiei relaţii bisericeşti externe a Patriarhiei Ruse, care ulterior a declarat pentru TIMPUL că îndemnul său se referă nu doar la Rusia, dar şi la celelalte state ex-sovietice. În acest context, preotul Reabîh consideră că toţi comunişti de astăzi, care se închină la doi domni, ar trebui ajutaţi să iasă din această rătăcire.

Pavel Păduraru

Situaţia în Mitropolia Moldovei nu este cu nimic mai bună…