Posted on 09/04/2004 10:09:26 AM PDT by Pikamax
EU-Russia spat over hostage crisis comments
04 September 2004
Russia lashed out Saturday at the European Union (EU)'s Dutch presidency over its call for an explanation from Moscow about the handling of the North Ossetia school hostage crisis that left 322 people dead, half of them children.
A spokesman for Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot immediately sought to clarify what he said was a "misunderstanding" over comments made by the minister on Friday, shortly after the bloody end to the standoff.
"The Russians apparently think we were sitting on a high horse and demanding explanations or something. But that was not the case," Bot's spokesman Bart Jochems told AFP.
That reaction came after the Russian foreign ministry issued a scorching statement saying: "The inappropriate comments of the Dutch minister are, to say the least, odious, and for the large part deeply offensive." Russia was "bewildered and outraged" by the comments, it added.
In the disputed remarks, made in a written statement issued late Friday, the Dutch minister said that: "All countries in the world need to work together to prevent tragedies like this.
"But we also would like to know from the Russian authorities how this tragedy could have happened," he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Saturday the comments were "insolent." "To put it mildly, the Dutch minister's comments give rise to (Russia's) astonishment."
"The tragedy lasted three days and was broadcast live in full detail by television channels, and it is clear to everyone that it was the terrorists who launched the armed action, while Moscow's first concern was to preserve the lives of the hostages," he said during a visit to Cairo.
In Moscow the Dutch ambassador to Russia, Tiddo Hofstee, was called in for a meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Boris Chezhov, in which the latter said that "Moscow is expecting an official explanation" of the Dutch reaction.
The Dutch spokesman, speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in the Netherlands, defended the comments, and said that the EU presidency had been in diplomatic touch with Moscow to defuse the situation.
"We don't think there's any harm in what the minister said. We're actually saying to the Russian authorities that we want to work together in combatting terrorism."
Bot "thinks it is a good idea if you want to understand things and want to help each other, that you know what happened there," said the spokesman. "That was the sole purpose of what he said, no more and no less."
"It was either a misunderstanding or someone pulled that quote out of context and thought 'We'd like to make a big row out of this'," he added.
Some 322 people, about half of them children, were killed after Russian forces stormed the school in the southern Russian region of North Ossetia to end the three-day hostage crisis.
In a televised address on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the hostage-taking showed that international terrorism was at work in the country.
Vowing not to "give in to blackmail," he said: "We have showed weakness in the face of danger and the weak get beaten up."
He vowed to strengthen Russian unity and boost security in the north Caucasus.
European nations have generally been more critical of Russia's campaign in Chechnya than the United States, which views Russia as an ally in the international "war on terror".
According to diplomatic sources, the disputed Bot comments were issued after certain EU states -- notably the ex-Soviet Baltic states which were among 10 countries to join the EU in May -- called for the EU presidency to "go beyond a simple message of solidarity, and to seek to understand what happened."
""But we also would like to know from the Russian authorities how this tragedy could have happened," he said."
Well, allowing rag-heads to roam your country unescorted and unsupervised ranks pretty near the top of my list........
THe liberal fix was already in.
The AP and Reuters headlines for 12 hours was, "XXX Dead after Russians storm school"
Never mind that the first hostages out all said the terrorists started it when they detonated the explosives in the gym.
Again, liberal orthodoxy trumps the truth every time.
Bernard Bot can be reached at:
dvl-info@minbuza.nl
Dr. Bernard Rudolf Bot was born in Batavia, Indonesia (formerly the Dutch East Indies) on 21 November 1937.
After completing his secondary education, he studied law at Leiden University, the Hague Academy of International Law and Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Mass., where he obtained a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree. In 1968 he was awarded a doctorate in law by Leiden University for his thesis entitled 'Non-recognition and treaty relations'.
http://www.cgny.org/location.asp
Netherlands Consulates
Can the EU even get their coinage straight?
The outfit is dominated by the big Frogs in Paris.
Yes, the children were dead after the devils planted bombs all around them that were filled with bolts, nuts and other shards designed to do maximum damage. They're dead after they were shot in the back by the Islamists. Their moms and dads and babuschkas are dead after being executed in front of their eyes by the Chechen devils. The western media needs to face up to the truth, and it won't.
"There are only two things I hate:
intolerance of other cultures,
and the Dutch."
...paraphrased from Goldmember...
Here is what I wrote under the subject, Causes of Terrorism:
I am encouraged by your call to address the root causes of terrorism given that Europeans have been in the forefront of western nations supporting it. When Europeans host and give money to Palestinian and Chechen terrorists, they are promoting mass murder. Perhaps some introspection on your part will lead to a change in policy. Then again, I will not hold my breath. Europeans have always loved mass murder and the Dutch have always done their part to encourage it.
Your shameful, high-handed approach to the Russian tragedy is only worthy of our contempt. Today we are all Russians. All of us, that is, except you.
I hope the Baltics don't let their hatred of Russia overwhelm their good sense in the war on terrorism.
I thought I heard somewhere that these Chechens are connected to Hamas in some way. Can't remember. Is Hamas in the PLO?
Problem is, most of Europe thinks "working together" means writing resolutions and holding committee meetings, but certainly never actually removing the threat where it lives.
"But we also would like to know from the Russian authorities how this tragedy could have happened," he said.
So while in one breath he wants to "work together" to prevent it happening, in the next he essentially implies Russia somehow asked for it? Sounds familiar.
I figure we can give Europe to Russia in exchange for all the lands in the Western Hemisphere....
Next time, they'll get a native-speaker Russian to do the translating, is my thought.
Thanks. Already sent them email.
"I thought I heard somewhere that these Chechens are connected to Hamas in some way."
I really don't know, but wouldn't be a bit surprised. They're all one happy family.
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