Tarasyuk: no legal basis at present for Ukraine to send soldiers to Iraq (05/11/03)

Tarasyuk: no legal basis at present for Ukraine to send soldiers to Iraq

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - A former foreign affairs minister of Ukraine said on April 7 that no legal basis exists at present for sending soldiers to Iraq as part of a U.S. stabilization force.

"There is a problem of legitimacy here. In Ukraine's past participation in peacekeeping efforts there was a normative base from which to proceed, the United Nations, NATO, etc. At the moment there is none," explained Borys Tarasyuk, foreign affairs minister in the Cabinet of ex-Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko and currently the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada's Committee on European Integration.

Mr. Tarasyuk emphasized that he would like to see Ukraine take part in the U.S.-led stabilization force, but until a recognized international body gave support for the mission and a legitimate interim government took charge in Iraq it was unlikely that the Verkhovna Rada would give legislative approval for Ukraine's participation. The stabilization force would conduct peacekeeping and humanitarian operations.

On May 2 the U.S. announced that it will make an effort to reduce its military presence in Iraq by dividing the country into three zones of control and inviting other countries to provide troops, among them Ukraine. The 10 countries invited would have responsibility over the northern zone, which Poland would control as one of the countries that sent troops into battle.

Great Britain would continue to maintain responsibility over the southern part of the country, while the U.S. presence would be reduced to the central region, including the area around Baghdad. Australia would maintain only a token force in Iraq.

The other countries invited to contribute military personnel were: Bulgaria, Denmark, the Netherlands, the Philippines, South Korea, Qatar, Pakistan, India and Albania.

Kyiv has remained guarded about its current attitude toward participation in a stabilization force in part perhaps because its giant northern neighbor, Russia, has continued to vehemently oppose the U.S. takeover of the country and the regime change that occurred. On May 6 Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Markian Lubkivskyi would only say that "intensive negotiations" are underway between Ukrainian and U.S. officials on "what Ukraine could offer."

Yevhen Marchuk, the secretary of Ukraine's and National Security and Defense Council, commenting during a Ukraine-NATO conference in Washington on May 6 on a Ukrainian deployment to Iraq did not give details of any possible ongoing negotiations or what Kyiv's inclinations were at present.

He emphasized that Ukraine would make a decision only after NATO had developed its own stance towards the presence of an international stabilization force in Iraq. Before arriving in Washington, Mr. Marchuk had traveled to London for a gathering of U.S., British and Polish officials, dubbed the "force generation conference," during which the 10 countries were chosen.

At the Washington meeting, NATO Secretary General George Robertson said that at the moment NATO "has no position on operations in Iraq." However, Anatolii Hrytsenko, director of the well-respected Razumkov Center for Economic and Political Studies, who was present at the same Washington conference, told Interfax-Ukraine on May 7 that he understood that Washington had requested that Ukraine agree to provide two battalions and the leadership for a brigade.

He added that U.S. officials had expressed the view that such a step would be a concrete commitment, which they would return with support for Ukraine's entry into NATO at some future point in time.

Ex-Foreign Minister Tarasyuk agreed that a Ukrainian stabilization force in Iraq would help re-seal the frayed edges of the U.S.-Ukraine strategic partnership, which had been strained by pre-war allegations from Washington that Ukrainian officials had supplied illegal radar tracking stations to the now-deposed regime of Saddam Hussein.

Mr. Tarasyuk said previous authorization by the Verkhovna Rada for deployment of a special Ukrainian battalion in Kuwait specializing in neutralizing the after affects of nuclear, biological and chemical attacks, which was currently in place, had already committed Ukraine to the Iraq effort. This, in turn, would make receiving Verkhovna Rada approval simpler the second time around.

Mr. Tarasyuk also pointed out that Ukraine's continued contribution to the post-war stabilization force would give it a distinct advantage in obtaining contracts for specific projects in the rebuilding of Iraq, which is due to begin shortly and which could provide Ukrainians with thousands of jobs.

Mr. Tarasiuk also said he expected the United Nations Security Council to give the nod to an international stabilization force before long, which would give the Verkhovna Rada the official sanction it would be seeking.

"I cannot see under what pretense China, Russia or France could reject such a peace-building effort," stated Mr. Tarasyuk.

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