PERSONALITY PUTIN
Charm with a Purpose
APRIL 25, 2005
By Toby Westerman
Copyright 2005 International News Analysis Today
www.inatoday.com
The sale of military secrets to Russian military intelligence (GRU), and the acceptance of the destruction of human rights and a free press are the price some in the West are willing to pay for the friendship of Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of Germany has suppressed news that German counterintelligence had caught Russian diplomat Alexander Kuzmin, who is also a GRU officer, in the act of receiving secret weapons and communications documents, according to several international press reports.
Kuzmin was quietly released and flown to Russia at Schroeder's direction.
Kuzmin's arrest in November 2004 could have jeopardized Schroeder's December summit meeting with Putin, and Germany's multi-million dollar business agreements with the Russian Federation.
Russia is also Germany's most important source of gas and oil.
News of Kuzmin's arrest and release were made public only recently by the German newsmagazine, Der Spiegel.
Critics of Schroeder have accused the German leader of not addressing human rights abuses in Russia to avoid damaging Berlin-Moscow relations.
The arrest of Kuzmin is not the only incident of Russian spying in Germany. Heinz Fromm, head of domestic German intelligence, stated that improved political relations have not translated into freedom from Russian espionage. Moscow still considers Germany a "target country" employing resources against Berlin "with corresponding priority," Fromm declared, according to Reuters.
Former German counterintelligence officer Wolbert Smidt stated that, "Things have hardly altered since the fall of the Berlin Wall," according to the London Telegraph.
Although U.S. George Bush has cited Moscow's failure in human rights and press freedoms, little concrete action can be expected. Washington still considers Russia one of its most important allies in the war on terror and "strategic partner."
In addition to foreign policy considerations, President Bush, like Schroeder, considers Putin a close friend.
The depth of the abuse of human rights is attested by veteran human rights campaigner, Elena Bonner, wife of Novel Peace Prizewinner, the late Andrei Sakharov. About the time Kuzmin was arrested, Bonner declared that "Russia is under the control of the KGB." Bonner's remarks on the "KGB" and the Soviet-style position of Russian security services in the "new" Russia are addressed in issue No. 71 of International News Analysis.
Copyright 2005
International News Analysis Today
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