Final Word from Friday, November 3, 2006
Russia showed again yesterday how far it's willing to go if it doesn't get its way in its "near abroad." Gazprom plans to double natural-gas rates for Georgia on Jan. 1. Russia isn't happy either about what's going on in the "little bit farther abroad." Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Wed. that Nato deceived Russia when it assured it in the first enlargement wave that military facilities wouldn't be built in new member countries. He was referring to missile-defense plans for Poland and the CR. One of his subordinates, Gen. Yevgeny Buzhinsky, said in Oct. that Russia would consider such facilities to be a threat and would take corresponding retaliatory measures of a political and military nature. BIS counter-intelligence reported that up to half of the 60 diplomats at the Russian embassy in Prague are spies. How many of them, one wonders, are identifying possible retaliatory options? [Czech Republic Sergey North Atlantic Treaty Organization]