PLACE DU PETIT-SACONNEX
1211 GENEVA 19 SWITZERLAND
| INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION PLACE DU PETIT-SACONNEX 1211 GENEVA 19 SWITZERLAND |
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Press release of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
At his first public appearance after the President of the Russian Federation, H.E. Boris Yeltsin announced his decision to nominate him to the State Duma for the office of Primer Ministe, Mr Yevgueni M. Primakov addressed the 100th Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Thursday to express his views on the role of Russia today's world. Mr Yevgueni Primakov is no new comer to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), having been a member of the IPU Executive Committee in 1989 at the 82nd Inter-Parliamentary Conference. "When I worked at the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, I participated in several sessions of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. But this is the first time I have attended as Minister of Foreign Affairs of democratic Russia. The fact that Moscow is the venue of the 100th Inter-Parliamentary Conference is most significant. I see it as a message of support from parliamentarians worldwide to the Russians, who are going through a difficult period. I see it as the sign that you are confident that we will overcome the crisis." Commenting on the new international order, Mr Yevgueni M. Primakov noted that out of a total of 90 armed conflicts in the world, less than 5% were international. "This feature of the new generation conflicts makes them even more difficult to resolve", he said. In Mr Primakov's view, the post Cold War world is far from exempt from contradictions and differences of interest. "These contradictions are superimposed on a new multi-polar structure. We believe that what matters most is to overcome the division in the new world order", he said. Mr Primakov underlined the danger that demarcation lines could emerge in Europe. He qualifies the idea that the Muslim countries are the enemies of civilisation as "a provocation". Turning to the issue of the proliferation of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, Mr Primakov said that two possible tendencies could be distinguished: a decrease in the quantity of nuclear weapons with a view to disarmament or, on the contrary, the expansion of the "nuclear club". "Russia comes down categorically in favour of the first tendency. We are insistent that other members of the "nuclear club", China, United Kingdom and France, must join the non-proliferation process. Meanwhile, the nuclear tests in Asia have created a new situation. There are more members of the "nuclear club". Whatever the reasons given, such as equality of power and rights or nuclear parity, that tendency is a source of destabilisation on the world scene". "Russia believes that it is vital to apply the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and create denuclearised zones", he went on. "Admittedly, there are those who think that Russia's foreign policy is not strong enough. They advocate first overcoming the economic crisis and completing the army reforms and only then appearing as a main actor on the international scene. They are mistaken. Events show that without active participation by Russia, even if it has been weakened in recent years on the domestic scene, it is difficult if not impossible to solve international problems and rid the world of the threats that remain." "Russia is ready to use its foreign policy potential, the opportunities offered by its geopolitical situation, its influence accumulated over the years, its status as member of the Security Council and its enormous technological and scientific potential for the benefit of democratic development in the world". "I wish to stress that Russia cannot envisage its future without the reinforcement of parliamentary institutions, without the development of international links between parliaments. To our mind, the strengthening of parliamentary institutions would render irreversible the process of democratising international relations and the shaping of a new world order which would respond to the interests of all countries and all nations".
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