Russia blasts NATO drugs policy in Afghanistan at OSCE meeting
More on this topic <http://en.rian.ru/trend/afghanistan_07102009/> 01:3920/02/2010 Russia expressed its "indignation" over NATO's failure to limit opium cultivation in Afghanistan at the winter session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on Friday, the head of the Russian delegation said. The session opened on Thursday in the Austrian capital, Vienna, with discussion of the Afghanistan issue <http://en.beta.rian.ru/world/20100218/157921480.html> on Friday. Alexander Kozlovsky, a deputy chairman of the State Duma's foreign affairs committee, said the discussions were useful, but said the Russian side criticized NATO for "practically guarding the fields where the drugs are grown." He said the Russian delegation emphasized the volumes of Afghan heroin coming into the country, and said the Parliamentary Assembly "expressed the serious need to combine efforts to combat drug trafficking." "PA members agreed that the OSCE had already found a variety of ways in which the organization can assist in the reconstruction of Afghanistan," he said. Kozlovsky said that first of all this meant training for Afghan forces, adding that the Russian and Belarusian delegations were opposed to such projects being carried out on Afghan territory, particularly due to problems with security. He said he expected that no matter how far a country was from Afghanistan, all of Europe would continue to be concerned by the issues involved. The winter session of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly was only to discuss and outline the problem, rather than take any decisions. The two-day forum was attended by about 240 parliamentarians. VIENNA, February 20 (RIA Novosti) http://en.rian.ru/world/20100220/157948310.html
