Finland Rejects Talk of Euro Exit After Backing Spain Rescue

Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen dismissed speculation his government is considering dropping the euro should the debt crisis deepen after the Nordic nation’s parliament agreed to back a Spanish bank bailout.

“We will not and do not consider exiting the euro,” the premier said today in an interview in Helsinki. “We want to be at the heart of European development. A stronger euro, a better euro is the only, and reasonable, thing for Finland.”

Finland’s demand that bailouts come with strict terms such as austerity and burden sharing, coupled with Katainen’s rejection of common bonds, has prompted economists including Nouriel Roubini to suggest the nation may ultimately quit the euro in protest.
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Finland, which saw the anti-bailout party the “The Finns” become the third-biggest in elections in 2011, also demanded collateral to back a second bailout for Greece last year. It was not an easy decision to back Spain, Katainen said.

“It was a necessary decision to take, even though it’s very hard,” he said. “It’s unpopular, but we have to take responsible moves and steps because the economic situation is so challenging.”

Turkey: Syria Crisis Causes Russian Relations to Suffer

Although Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan brought his energy minister along on a one-day visit July 18 to Moscow, it’s safe to assume that rather than oil and gas prices, the question of how to resolve the crisis in Syria dominated the discussion between Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

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“I think that the Syria crisis – in conjunction with other issues such as Cyprus, NATO missile defense and pipeline politics, all of which put Turkey against Russia – is going to erode substantially the amity between the two countries,” added Blank. [Editor’s Note: Blank contributes occasional commentaries to EurasiaNet].

Just a few months ago, many Turks had good reason to believe their country and Russia were heading toward a golden age in their relations, which had for decades been dominated by the divisions of the Cold War. As one overly optimistic Turkish paper described it only this past January, Turkey was “now a strategic partner of Moscow.”

Business between the two counties has boomed in the last decade, with Russia now representing Turkey’s largest trade partner. Between 2001 and 2011, Turkish exports to Russia grew 548 percent, from $0.9 billion to $5.9 billion, while Russian exports to Turkey – mostly gas and oil – increased almost 600 percent, rising from $3.4 billion to $23.9 billion.
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“There was always the hope in Moscow that they could somehow woo Turkey and exploit the rift between Turkey and the United States and the EU. I think Moscow was pretty shocked when Turkey came on board in Libya,” says Fiona Hill, an expert on Russia at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC.

Indeed, since the NATO-led operation in Libya last year, Turkey’s ties with the Atlantic Alliance – as well as with Washington – have deepened. Ankara’s role in NATO has become more prominent, particularly with regards to the deteriorating situation in Syria. Like it or not, Ankara may find that it and Moscow are again standing on opposite sides of what should be familiar ideological and geopolitical fault-lines.

Shots fired as Russia detains Chinese fishing ships

(CNN) -- The Russian coast guard seized two Chinese vessels and detained 36 fishermen Tuesday after they were allegedly found fishing in Russian-controlled waters in the Sea of Japan, according to state media

Warning shots were fired at one vessel during a three-hour pursuit by Russian Coast Guard, which eventually rammed the vessel and soldiers fired directly on the ship when sailors resisted being boarded, according to Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency.
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An editorial in China's People's Daily condemned the firing on the vessel, calling the move "reckless."

"In 1983, the Soviet Union shot down a Korean Air Lines Boeing 747 civilian airliner. Now Russia, for at least the second time, has fired on a Chinese civilian ship. Such conduct will stay in the memory of people in Northeast Asia," the editorial said. "The aggressive behavior by some Russians at the grass-roots level not only harms Chinese confidence in fostering a long-term friendship with Russia, but also provides excuses for forces seeking to undermine China-Russia ties."

In Trade Deal With Russia, U.S. Plans Sanctions for Human Rights Abuses

By PETER BAKER

Published: July 17, 2012

WASHINGTON — In the two decades since the end of the cold war, the United States has extended its economic reach to the far corners of the old Communist world, establishing full-fledged trade ties with the likes of Ukraine, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. Even still-Communist nations like China and Vietnam have been granted full trading status. But not Russia.

That seems about to change. For the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union, a bipartisan coalition in Congress has agreed to normalize trade relations with Russia, the onetime adversary in the long struggle between capitalism and communism. But at a time of renewed tension with Moscow, lawmakers have decided to grant the status with one large caveat — that Russian officials be held responsible for human rights abuses.

Russian base in Tajikistan to remain for 49 more years

Tajikistan has agreed on the Russian version of an agreement on the deployment of the 201st military base on its territory. After 2014, the base will remain in Tajikistan without compensation. After the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan, the Russian base will be a guarantor of security for the republic from threats from the south.
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For Russia, the military base in Tajikistan is first and foremost a guarantee of its own security. China is also following in similar footsteps and planning to set up a base in Pakistan. When NATO contingent leaves Afghanistan in 2014, a war might break out in the region with renewed vigor and will easily spread to the neighboring countries, says a fellow at the Institute of World Economics and International Relations, Alexander Krylov.

This base is very important for Russia because it is located near the Afghan border and assures security at its outer approaches. After the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan, the situation in the region will worsen radically. It’s crucial for Russia to have means to respond to new challenges. The radical Islamists might try to cross the Afghan border. In these circumstances, the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization can play the role of containing buffer which will stabilize the situation. The Russian military presence at the borders of the former Soviet Union will be a stabilizing factor. Not only Afghanistan, but also Iraq, Syria and Kurdistan will be the territory of a large war in the future. We are monitoring a single zone of instability and fighting the outcome of which is unpredictable,” Alexander Krylov said.

Russia lays charges over journalist's murder

Russia has charged a retired policeman with organising the 2006 murder of newspaper reporter Anna Politkovskaya amid an investigation that has been criticised in the West for taking too long.
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The Investigative Committee said on Monday it now believed that top former Moscow policeman Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov helped organise Politkovskaya's murder and helped track her movements for months.

The former head of the Moscow police surveillance department was arrested on August 23 and has since faced a series of different charges while continuing to deny all responsibility.

"Between July and September 2000, Pavlyuchenkov established the victim's place of residence, the route she takes [home], and reported this information to other members of the organised crime group," the committee said in a statement.

"Moreover, he obtained the weapon and ammunition that were later used in the killing," the statement added.

Metropolitan hopes “NATO will break up”

PODGORICA -- Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral Amfilohije once again said he was against Montenegro joining NATO

 “I hope to god that Montenegro will not join NATO that bombed us,” he told Podgorica-based daily Dan. 

Amfilohije believes that Montenegro would by joining the EU become a link in the military organization that “exerts violence on the entire world”.