The elections in Chechenia and the war against terrorism

The forthcoming president elections in Chechnya, which will be pursued in the end of august, have symbolical significance not only for the future of the Caucasian region, but also for the future of the war against terrorism in the whole world.

The situation in Caucasus, after the murder of the legal Chechen president Ahmad Kadirov proved for the last time, that this region has been transformed into one of the main fronts of the Islamic terrorism, heading up by the Bin Laden’s net “Al Caida”. For a long time so called “Chechen national resistance” is a key element of this net and all attempts to outline some kind of dividing line between “the fighters for the independence” in Chechnya and the Islamic terrorists are completely unreasonable.

As it was shown by the recent dates in the international and Russian press, the leader of this “freedom fighters” Aslan Mashadov not only knew at advance about the plot to kill Kadirov, but this murder was blessed by him personally. In this situation, the personal contacts, which some circles in West Europe maintain with Mashadov, are not only inappropriate, but dangerous. At the same time the attempts to impose to Moscow to negotiate with Mashadov speak not only for scandal unknowledge of the situation, but for incapability to respond adequately to the new dangers against the contemporary world, including Europe, itself.

At the same time the most western politicians and experts understand, that the Chechen separatists and islamists play key role in the strategy of the international terrorism. It’s not accidentally, that the deputy director of the Russian section of the US State Department mr. M.Murrow said in may 2004 at the Washington Center for Strategic and International Researches, that: “Aslan Mashadov is completely compromised figure, because of his close ties with the terrorists and it’s impossible to negotiate with him any more”.

At the eve of the Chechen presidential elections, the main European structures – European Union (EU), Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe (OSCE) and the Parlamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) have the excellent possibility to collaborate practically for the peaceful solution of the Chechen question. In October 2003 all these organizations made a rude mistake, when refused to send their representatives at the presidential elections in Chechnya, alleged by consideration of security. At the same time all the international observers of the elections from Islamic Conference Organization, Arab Liga and Union of the Independent States (UIS) confirmed that the necessary security for all foreign observers was guaranteed.

At the eve of the new presidential elections in Chechnya all these organizations received again invitation from the Russian government to send their representatives in Chechnya. And their eventual participation will not only cooperate for the democratically hold of the elections, but will be an important proof for the European determination to fight against the terrorism. By the way, the Bulgarian foreign minister mr. Solomon Pasi, as a chairman of the OSCE, has a special responsibility in this case. Because the true is, that the frontline of the war against the terrorism pass not only through Afganistan, or the Middle East (as consider mr.Pasi ), but also through Chechnya.

National Conservative Forum