Baltics wary of France-Russia warship deal

TALLINN, Feb 8, 2010 (AFP) - Ex-Soviet Baltic states Estonia and Lithuania on Monday demanded that fellow NATO and EU member France explain its plans to sell an amphibious assault warship to their former overlord Moscow.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Kersti Luha told AFP that Estonia had been pressing France for an explanation since plans for the naval deal were revealed in November.

"We raised the issue with France of Russia's desire to buy a French warship. We wished to find out what exactly would be sold to Russia and we plan to continue to ask for more information about the deal," Luha said.

France in December said it would be ready to sell one ultra-modern Mistral-class warship to Russia -- a source of "surprise" for Estonia, Luha noted.

Having initially tendered for a single vessel, Moscow now wants to buy up to four, a French defence ministry official said Monday.

The plan has raised concerns among France's allies as it would mark the first sale by a NATO member of such advanced technology to Moscow.

Critics also allege it comes too soon after Moscow's August 2008 war with pro-Western, ex-Soviet Georgia -- which despite its victory highlighted shortfalls in Russia's Black Sea fleet that its navy has said a Mistral would have solved.

It also follows on recent Russian exercises near the Baltic states, critics say.

"This trend deepens our concern. We're watching this agreement carefully," Lithuanian Defence Minister Rasa Jukneviciene told AFP.

She said she raised the issue at a NATO meeting last week in Istanbul.

"The French said the warship would be sold without armaments. What's clear now is that Russia's military industry lags far behind NATO's," she said.

"If they sold it (with armaments), it would be unprecedented," she added.

Estonia and Lithuania won freedom from the crumbling Soviet bloc in 1991, five decades after being taking over by Moscow during World War II.

Their relations with Russia are often rocky, notably since they joined the European Union and NATO in 2004.


by Jun Kwanwoo
(c) 2010 AFP

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