Mr. Gennadiy SELEZNEV accepted the interview from Andrei Pinkov and Satoko Tomiyama

The direct result of the NATO’s air strike against the Balkan Peninsula was the birth of a "new Soviet Union". The history will prove that this was the last result that the NATO had wished to see and that for the NATO, of course, it is the worst strategic mistake of this century.

This air strike saw an unprecedentedly united Slavic nations in its history. As the history records, Tito withstood the threat and pressure from Stalin to safeguard the independence and dignity of Yugoslavia. For over a hundred years, Ukraine was in conflict with Russia for its independence. Now, Yugoslavia has made a formal request to join the Russia-Byelorussian Alliance while Ukraine has formally given up its status as a non-nuclear country and has enhanced its military relationship with Russia. The "strategic new concept" that the NATO proposed in the hope of expanding its influence eastward to Ukraine may have become an illusion in history due to the vigilance of Ukraine.

In fact, the "new Soviet Union" came into being in 1997. The difference between the "new Soviet Union" and the old one is that the former shows a stronger color of "federalization" while the latter was of a "confederation" nature. The old Soviet Union practiced the planned economy and the socialist system whereas the fundamental goal that the "new Soviet Union" wishes to reach is the market economy and the capitalist system of freedom. However, there are quite a few similarities in several areas between the two Soviet Unions, especially in the strategy and the value of national defense.

On April 2, 1997, Russian President Yeltsin and Byelorussian President Lukashenko signed the Treaty on the Russia-Byelorussian Alliance in Moscow. According to the treaty, it was decided that the existing Russia-Byelorussian Community should be changed to the Russia-Byelorussian Alliance. It is not difficult to see from the constitution of the Russia-Byelorussian Alliance that the goal these two countries wish to ultimately reach is to become an organic whole in the capital market, science and technology, currency, customs duties, and finally in national defense so as to give rise to a real confederation. This will enable the defensive network of the "new Soviet Union" to extend westward by a critical 1000 kilometers. As a result of the Balkan crisis, Serbia officially announced that Yugoslavia had made a request to join the Russia-Byelorussian Alliance. President Yeltsin supported the request, so did Byelorussian President Lukashenko. At present, the departments concerned have received the instructions of drafting the Declaration on the Establishment of the Russia-Byelorussia-Yugoslavian Alliance. After this, Yugoslavia is expected to receive a large amount of military support and Russia may also send its troops to Yugoslavia.

The NATO had been hoping to gain the diplomatic dominance over the Balkan area through the bombing and to finally further its southward expansion of influence after its eastward expansion, so that the NATO could drive back the influence of Russia in an all-rounded way. However, the action of Serbia demonstrated that Russia succeeded in its "southward expansion" without using even a soldier or a bomb. This was what Stalin and Breznev had dreamed about at their times. As far as this significance is concerned, the "new Soviet Union" gained more than it lost in this crisis.

Having benefited from this crisis, Ukraine, who took an uncompromising stand on Russia, has now changed its mind. The Ukrainian parliament has passed the resolutions for the solution to all the problems about the Black Sea Fleet. This clears up the major obstacles to an overall increase in the cooperation between Ukraine and Russia. In addition, Ukraine has also enhanced its military maneuvers.

Of course, the action of Serbia will surely affect the Commonwealth Independent States (CIS) and will make the confederate nature of the CIS more worthy of its name in the future. Especially in the Orient, the "new Soviet Union" is also in the course of expanding its real influence eastward. Russia has signed an agreement with both Kazakstan and Tadzhikistan on uniting all their troops as an organic whole. In fact, the Russian nationality takes an extremely large proportion in the above-mentioned mid-Asian countries and these countries didn’t at all want to separate from the former Soviet Union at that time. Now, they are the mid-Asian countries that will most likely follow the suit of Byelorussia and Serbia to join the Russia-Byelorussian Alliance. The KANWA even believes that considering the closeness in their geographic locations and national cultures, both Russia and Byelorussia may eventually become united as a federation once Russia comes to the stage of complete recovery. The mid-Asian countries will later join this federation. They will all form a "new Soviet Union" that has a national structure totally identical to that of the former Soviet Union.

In the 21st century, the NATO will face a new Soviet Union that has a social and economic system close to or even gradually identical to that of the NATO. In the meantime, this new Soviet Union was formed as a result of the NATO’s impact. The world is waiting to see how it will grow and change. Kanwa Editorial )

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