Kudos to Clinton for recent Krakow and Tbilisi visits

Over the past 18 months, I’ve certainly offered plenty of criticism (constructive, I hope) of the Obama administration, but I’ve also sought to support positive policy/decisions/rhetoric when warranted. This is one of those positive pieces, with a focus on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent trip to Poland, Ukraine, and the Caucasus. For purposes here, I want to zero in on her Krakow and Tbilisi stops (a future column will be less kind on her visit to Baku, and I’ve opined elsewhere on Ukraine). 

In Krakow, the secretary spoke at the 10th-anniversary meeting of the Community of Democracies. Quite simply, her speech, which focused on the critical role played by civil society in democratic development around the world, was very good. She singled out for criticism the usual suspects – North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, and Belarus — but she also included Russia (not a given in light of the Administration’s reset policy), Egypt (which has received soft treatment despite its increasingly anti-democratic trends), and Ethiopia (where the government has imposed laws restricting NGO activity). 

In an important rebuff to authoritarian regimes that cry interference in their internal affairs, she explained that American NGOs are permitted to receive funding from sources outside the United States and noted that foreign NGOs are allowed to operate on American soil.  "We welcome these groups in the belief that they make our nation stronger and deepen relationships between America and the rest of the world," Clinton stated. "And it is in that same spirit that the United States provides funding to foreign civil society organizations that are engaged in important work in their own countries. And we will continue this practice, and we would like to do more of it in partnership with other democracies." Attendees remarked that Clinton’s speech was the highlight of the gathering and inspiration for those listening not just in Krakow but around the world.

In a separate press conference with Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, Clinton said more or less the right things on moving forward with the Poles on hosting elements of the Obama administration’s phased, adaptive approach to missile defense (different from the Bush plan for ground-based interceptors). Putting aside her unnecessary slight of the Bush plan — she didn’t really need to say: "I think that the phased adaptive approach has so many advantages over the plan that it replaced" — Clinton stressed that the U.S. was prepared to work with the Poles, taking some of the sting out of the badly mishandled announcement of the Administration’s missile defense plans last September 17. Sikorski, at least, seemed pleased.

In addition, during the Q&A with Sikorski, Clinton was unambiguous when asked about the situation in Georgia and the separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia:

With respect to Georgia, we have consistently opposed the occupation by Russian troops of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and have pushed for a resolution that would restore the full territorial integrity of Georgia…We have raised these issues consistently with Russia and certainly have not seen a lot of the progress in the Geneva process which was established to try to create observers and peacekeeping missions and border security as a stop-gap measure on the way to, hopefully, seeing the end of the Russian occupation." (emphasis added)

This was followed by equally strong comments during the last stop on her journey, Tbilisi.  During a press conference with Georgian President Saakashvili, she rejected any Russian claims to a sphere of influence and said:

We continue to call for Russia to abide by the August 2008 cease fire commitment signed by President Saakashvili and President Medvedev, including ending the occupation and withdrawing Russian troops from South Ossetia and Abkhazia to their pre-conflict positions. We also stressed the need for humanitarian access to the territories.

As I told the president, President Obama and I and other American officials raise our concerns about the invasion and occupation with Russian counterparts on a consistent basis. And it is very important for us that we do so, because we are very frank in asserting our concerns and our ongoing support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity….

We have expressed our concerns about the Russian Government’s construction of permanent military bases. We have made clear that we consider such construction to be in contradiction to Russia’s 2008 cease fire commitments. And we continue to call on Russia to fully comply with the cease fire agreement that they signed, including the withdrawal of their troops to the pre-conflict positions, and humanitarian access to the separatist regions." (emphasis added)

That is an important message coming from the U.S. Secretary of State.  She added to it during a town hall meeting with Georgian women leaders, referring several times to Russia’s "invasion" and "ongoing occupation," which prompted an annoyed Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow to respond that Russian actions in 2008 were more accurately characterized as "liberation" of the separatist regions. Clinton also rightly warned Georgian officials against being "baited or provoked into any action that would give any excuse to the Russians to take any further aggressive movements." 

In addition to engaging with civil society in Tbilisi, Clinton also met with two leading Georgian opposition figures and publicly stressed the importance of freedom of the press and an independent judiciary, and even touched on the issue of NATO.  "As long as Georgia wants to be a NATO member," Clinton offered, "the United States supports Georgia’s aspirations." 

Clinton’s trip to the region was important reassurance to countries along Russia’s borders that they were not being sacrificed as a result of the Obama administration’s reset policy with Moscow. Vice President Joseph Biden had visited Ukraine and Georgia a year ago, and a lot more work on reassuring these states needs to be done. But her stops in Krakow and Tbilisi were a good step in the right direction. 

Now, about her visit to Baku…