In 2003, the "Troika" - Russia, Germany and France - opposed the U.S. led invasion of Iraq. Kouchner explained in English the purpose of his visit: "Now we are turning the page. There is a new perspective. We want to talk about the future." Should Russia and Germany follow his example? Let's see what France has achieved.
Although the context of his statement is abundantly clear, it raises the question of which page, exactly, he wishes to turn - the page of strained French-American relations, which warmed up immediately after Nicholas Sarkozy became the French president, or the page of Paris-Baghdad relations after Saddam Hussein's downfall? Most probably, he meant both.
France and Russia have a similar history in Iraq. Both maintained contacts with the Hussein regime and opposed its overthrow by outside force. Oil companies from both countries operated in Iraq under the oil-for-food program. They also tried to reserve themselves the right to develop Iraqi oil deposits when international sanctions were eventually lifted.
LUKoil of Russia and Total of France found themselves in a similar predicament in 2002. Both had signed contracts with the Hussein regime to develop the West Qurna and Majnoon oil fields, respectively. They refused to start work because of sanctions, and Iraq terminated both agreements. The war left this issue hanging in the air. Now both companies hope to return to Iraq, but it is unclear under what terms it will be.
Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani visited Moscow in early August. He said that foreign companies were not likely to receive a majority of shares in the Iraqi fields with proven reserves and the calculated level of risk. The remaining fields would be put up for tender to competing companies.
It's up to Iraq to decide what to do with its oil fields. In recent history, Russia itself has had mixed feelings about foreign involvement in its oil and gas industry. Today, Russia, its foreign partners and its rivals are all trying to come back to Iraq, each in its own way.
True, at the moment business in Iraq is precarious. Security problems and political chaos are preventing the Iraqi government and parliament from overcoming the crisis. They are marking time. The oil minister may say whatever he wants about the operation of foreign companies in Iraq, but the Iraqi parliament has not yet passed a law on oil and gas. Therefore, oil companies can only make assumptions about work in Iraq and conclude strategic alliances with a view to the future.
This is what the Total did. At about the same time as the Iraqi oil minister was making his remarks in Moscow, there appeared reports in the U.S. media that the French Total and the U.S. oil company Chevron agreed to collaborate on the Majnoon field. Meanwhile, on a visit to the U.S. Mr Sarkozy met his American counterpart, George W. Bush, and they agreed to leave differences over Iraq in the past.
The San Francisco Chronicle wrote: "The building of a US-French consensus on Iraq (i.e. between Sarkozy and Bush) is largely the result of the willingness of U.S. oil interests to share the spoils with their European counterparts in exchange for their political and military backing of Washington's foreign policy in the Middle East." A little more than a week later, Kouchner arrived in Baghdad.
Maybe we should not link the unconfirmed Total-Chevron agreement with Kouchner's Iraqi visit. However, his talks in Baghdad are another clear indication of a U.S.-French rapprochement. It is quite obvious that Iraq will not lose anything - the more countries have a common policy towards it, the better for it. But it is still unclear whether France will stand to gain.
Bernard Kouchner said he went to Baghdad to learn about the positions of all Iraqi political forces, understand the nub of their differences and try to contribute to the settlement in Iraq. It is not so important whether he succeeds in this task or not; nobody has yet won the peacemaking laurels in Iraq. However, his visit shows that France is indeed turning a page, and is ready to start dealing with the new Iraq from scratch, and with U.S. backing.
Should Russian diplomats become more active as well? We can argue that such visits are mostly useless, that Russia is already doing much for settlement in Iraq or that it was one of the first to speak about the urgency of inter-Iraqi dialogue. But sometimes the show of a flag does not hurt at all. Or is the Arctic more important than Iraq?
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
