ambassador rudolf v. perina - Association for Diplomatic Studies and ...
ambassador rudolf v. perina - Association for Diplomatic Studies and ...
ambassador rudolf v. perina - Association for Diplomatic Studies and ...
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was held by the Orthodox Church in the city’s main cathedral. It was a very touching<br />
experience because the sympathy was so genuine <strong>and</strong> sincere. Of course, we cancelled all<br />
our farewell dinners but had a very moving farewell with the Moldovan people. We flew<br />
to the U.S. on September 23 after U.S. airports were reopened.<br />
Q: So what was your next assignment?<br />
PERINA: My next assignment was Washington-based but involved a lot of travel. My<br />
title was Special Negotiator <strong>for</strong> Eurasian Conflicts, which basically meant conflicts in the<br />
<strong>for</strong>mer Soviet Union. It was a job with the rank of Ambassador, though I did not have to<br />
go through confirmation because I already had the title. I worked simultaneously on<br />
resolution of four of the conflicts in the <strong>for</strong>mer Soviet Union. These were the Nagorno-<br />
Karabakh conflict between Armenia <strong>and</strong> Azerbaijan, the two conflicts in Georgia<br />
resulting from the secession of Abkhazia <strong>and</strong> South Ossetia, <strong>and</strong> the Transnistrian<br />
conflict in Moldova. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was the major responsibility in the<br />
portfolio, <strong>and</strong> the one I spent the bulk of my time on. You will notice that I did not work<br />
on the Chechnya conflict in Russia. That is primarily because Russia was not interested<br />
in any outside assistance, <strong>and</strong> we could not help if Russia did not cooperate. So we<br />
h<strong>and</strong>led Chechnya as a human rights problem within Russia. The four conflicts I did<br />
work on where all different in nature <strong>and</strong> had different mediation procedures so it is<br />
probably best if we discuss them one by one.<br />
Q: You did this from when to when?<br />
PERINA: I was appointed right when I left Moldova in September of 2001 <strong>and</strong> I held the<br />
job until May of 2004. I made 29 trips to Europe within that period in connection with<br />
this job.<br />
Q: When you arrived back here, what was the basic position of the Administration<br />
toward these conflicts?<br />
PERINA: With regard to the major conflict I dealt with, Nagorno-Karabakh, people felt<br />
they had just been burned. In April 2001 there had been a large meeting organized by the<br />
U.S., by my predecessor Carey Cavanaugh, in Key West, Florida. (President) Robert<br />
Kocharian of Armenia <strong>and</strong> (President) Heydar Aliyev of Azerbaijan attended, as did the<br />
new Secretary of State Colin Powell. There was a lot of media attention <strong>and</strong> expectation<br />
that an agreement would be signed. Well, the meeting ended in failure, <strong>and</strong> it was an<br />
embarrassment <strong>for</strong> Powell <strong>and</strong> the Bush Administration. Carey Cavanaugh spent the next<br />
six months trying to revive the negotiating ef<strong>for</strong>t but could not do so. So when I came in,<br />
there was a sense that any progress was unlikely in the near future. It was a little akin to<br />
when I went to Belgrade in that there was a deep, pessimism about future prospects. I like<br />
those kinds of challenges, however, because you have no place to go but up.<br />
Q: So let’s talk about Nagorno-Karabakh. What were the issues <strong>and</strong> why had the talks<br />
failed?<br />
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