Kovalyov is attending the Forum 2000 conference of leading intellectuals at Prague Castle. Kovalyov said one of the main things to understand is that there is only one universal concept of human rights, and that concept grows out of the European Judeo-Christian tradition.
Human rights are indivisible.
Kovalyov said Russia is not being integrated into the West because of short-sighted Western politicians, who are too concerned with the immediate goal of saving Yeltsin's face. He said politicians in the West are betting on current personalities instead of trying to support a system of values. Citing Chechnya as an example, Kovalyov said that if U.S. President Bill Clinton and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl had truly and forcefully opposed Moscow's military intervention in the republic, fighting would have stopped within a month. Instead, both leaders fretted about hurting Yeltsin's reputation and the war continued for 21 months. According to Kovalyov, Russia today is receiving neither.