.Lawmakers OK Kremlin bill on military force abroad
MOSCOW (AP) - A Kremlin bill expanding the legal reasons for using military force abroad won a quick preliminary approval in the lower house of parliament Wednesday.
The motion was seen by some as a sign that the Kremlin was taking a tougher posture in relations with ex-Soviet neighbors after last year's war with Georgia.
The Kremlin-controlled State Duma voted unanimously to approve President Dmitry Medvedev's bill in the first of three required readings. It is expected to sail swiftly through two other readings in the State Duma before being rubber-stamped by the upper house.
The bill would allow the president to send troops outside the nation's border to fend off attacks on the Russian military, deter aggression against another state, protect Russian citizens, combat pirates and protect shipping.
The current legislation only envisages sending troops abroad to fight terrorists and fulfill Russia's obligations in line with international treaties. Medvedev said last month that the war with Georgia highlighted the need for the bill expanding deployment rules.
Russia said it sent forces into Georgia to protect civilians and its own military personnel from a Georgian invasion of the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Georgia countered that Russia triggered the hostilities by sending a military convoy into South Ossetia.
Viktor Zavarzin, the head of the Duma's defense affairs committee, said during Wednesday's debate that the new bill was necessary for Russia to mount a quick military response to security threats. "Modern wars will be waged quickly, so a long decision-making procedure on using military force abroad may hurt Russia's interests," he said.
The new bill has been met with unease in other ex-Soviet nations, particularly in Ukraine, whose ties with Moscow have grown increasingly tense recently.
Medvedev last month accused Ukraine's Western-leaning President Viktor Yushchenko of conducting a hostile policy toward Russia and sharply criticized him for supplying Georgia with weapons. The unusually blunt Medvedev's statement was widely seen as the Kremlin's attempt to interfere in Ukraine's presidential vote set for January.
Russia's navy is based in Ukraine's Black Sea port of Sevastopol under a lease agreement until 2017, and some observers speculated that Moscow could use frictions about the base's operations as a pretext for using force.
Outspoken ultranationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who serves as the Duma's deputy speaker, told the house that the new legislation should send a strong warning to other nations.
"Let people in some foreign capitals know ... that in case of any threat to our citizens the president will have to protect them wherever they are," Zhirinovsky said. "They may wake up to see our paratroopers along with artillery and aviation in use. Nothing will go unpunished any more."
MyWay
The motion was seen by some as a sign that the Kremlin was taking a tougher posture in relations with ex-Soviet neighbors after last year's war with Georgia.
The Kremlin-controlled State Duma voted unanimously to approve President Dmitry Medvedev's bill in the first of three required readings. It is expected to sail swiftly through two other readings in the State Duma before being rubber-stamped by the upper house.
The bill would allow the president to send troops outside the nation's border to fend off attacks on the Russian military, deter aggression against another state, protect Russian citizens, combat pirates and protect shipping.
The current legislation only envisages sending troops abroad to fight terrorists and fulfill Russia's obligations in line with international treaties. Medvedev said last month that the war with Georgia highlighted the need for the bill expanding deployment rules.
Russia said it sent forces into Georgia to protect civilians and its own military personnel from a Georgian invasion of the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Georgia countered that Russia triggered the hostilities by sending a military convoy into South Ossetia.
Viktor Zavarzin, the head of the Duma's defense affairs committee, said during Wednesday's debate that the new bill was necessary for Russia to mount a quick military response to security threats. "Modern wars will be waged quickly, so a long decision-making procedure on using military force abroad may hurt Russia's interests," he said.
The new bill has been met with unease in other ex-Soviet nations, particularly in Ukraine, whose ties with Moscow have grown increasingly tense recently.
Medvedev last month accused Ukraine's Western-leaning President Viktor Yushchenko of conducting a hostile policy toward Russia and sharply criticized him for supplying Georgia with weapons. The unusually blunt Medvedev's statement was widely seen as the Kremlin's attempt to interfere in Ukraine's presidential vote set for January.
Russia's navy is based in Ukraine's Black Sea port of Sevastopol under a lease agreement until 2017, and some observers speculated that Moscow could use frictions about the base's operations as a pretext for using force.
Outspoken ultranationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who serves as the Duma's deputy speaker, told the house that the new legislation should send a strong warning to other nations.
"Let people in some foreign capitals know ... that in case of any threat to our citizens the president will have to protect them wherever they are," Zhirinovsky said. "They may wake up to see our paratroopers along with artillery and aviation in use. Nothing will go unpunished any more."
MyWay
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