Russia’s Liberal-Leaning Foreign Minister Resigns A Liability To Yeltsin, Kozyrev Will Take Seat In Parliament
Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev, whose friendly overtures to the West earned him the hatred of Communists and nationalists at home, resigned Friday and joined the swelling ranks of liberals forced from President Boris Yeltsin’s government.
He will now take up the seat in the Russian parliament that he won last month, representing the Arctic Circle city of Murmansk.
Kozyrev’s resignation, which had been widely expected since Yeltsin all but promised to fire him last fall, probably does not signal any major shift in Russian foreign policy. It does, however, rid Yeltsin of a political liability as the presidential election scheduled for June approaches.
There was no statement Friday from Kozyrev, who is vacationing near Moscow. Nor did the Kremlin comment on a replacement.
What was most remarkable was that Kozyrev managed to last this long. Many foreign policy analysts had confidently predicted his imminent demise starting in mid-1992.
As foreign minister since 1990 and the longest-serving member of Yeltsin’s Cabinet, Kozyrev, 44, had been vilified by conservatives and liberals alike. He began by declaring antiAmericanism a “relic of the past” and delighting diplomats in Washington and Europe with his fluent English, courtly manners and pro-Western outlook.
(In Washington, White House press secretary Mike McCurry said, “There are no indications from the Yeltsin government that they have changed their views on domestic matters or foreign affairs,” adding that “we have worked closely with (Kozyrev) in a spirit of partnership.”)
Kozyrev was born in Brussels, the son of a Soviet diplomat, and became a diplomat himself at 23 - seeming almost bred to be foreign minister.
But to the old guard, who will dominate the new parliament that convenes next week, Kozyrev was an upstart who sold Russia out to the West by cozying up to Washington in the name of partnership and “new thinking” in the early Yeltsin era.