icon bookmark-bicon bookmarkicon cameraicon checkicon chevron downicon chevron lefticon chevron righticon chevron upicon closeicon v-compressicon downloadicon editicon v-expandicon fbicon fileicon filtericon flag ruicon full chevron downicon full chevron lefticon full chevron righticon full chevron upicon gpicon insicon mailicon moveicon-musicicon mutedicon nomutedicon okicon v-pauseicon v-playicon searchicon shareicon sign inicon sign upicon stepbackicon stepforicon swipe downicon tagicon tagsicon tgicon trashicon twicon vkicon yticon wticon fm
4 Feb, 2008 03:51

The Media Mirror: what's in today's Russian newspapers?

Belarus' involvement in the Sochi-2014 preparations and Kosovo's fate after Serbia's election are the main issues in Russian newspapers on Monday.

ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA reports from Sochi. After a visit to the skiing resort Krasnaya Polyana, during an informal meeting with Vladimir Putin, Dmitri Medvedev and Victor Zubkov the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, asked for part of the massive Olympic construction programme and received a preliminary positive response from the Russian side.

KOMMERSANT elaborates: the Belarusian part of the Sochi process is going to be a hotel that would be built entirely by Belarusian contractors and will remain Belarusian property after the Games in 2014.

NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA writes about Kosovo's independence: this is the first time in modern history when a new state is emerging against the background of such strong opposition from Russia. The main sponsors of independence – U.S, UK, Germany and France have already decided everything for themselves, continues the paper. However, some other EU nations are reluctant about by-passing the UN Security Council and throwing their support behind Pristina. The paper concludes: the main risk in the situation around Kosovo is in the lack of consensus between Russia and the West.

In the same newspaper regional security expert Alexander Rusetski writes: The level of internationalisation in the Kosovo conflict creates a serious threat to international security. The main problem about such conflicts, he continues, is the fact that only a small part of the real issue is on the surface while vested interests of all sides remain hidden. Such conflicts, usually geopolitical in nature, are often pictured as ethnic or religious. The author writes, only joint efforts by major powers and the immediate participants of such a conflict can allow us to resolve it. Neglecting that makes Kosovo just another step in Mankind's way to Armageddon.

ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA continues the topic with speculation that the U.S. military base, Bondstill Fort in Kosovo, may host a secret installation that is one of the main reasons why the U.S. have such a great interest in the emergence of an independent Kosovo. Even if it's not true, continues the paper, the Bondstill Fort is one of the very few places in Europe where the American military presence is still welcome.

Podcasts
0:00
23:13
0:00
25:0