BERLIN, September 16 (RIA Novosti's Taras Lariokhin) - Separation of Chechnya from Russia would lead to catastrophic consequences for the whole region and security in the world, believes German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer.
"Chechnya's independence cannot be a resolution [of the Chechen problem], as Russia's split would continue then, which would have catastrophic consequences for the whole region and security all over the world," he told German newspaper Markische Allgemeine.
"The autonomous Chechnya of late 1990s also led to catastrophic consequences. Chechnya became a base for Islamic terrorists," he noted.
In the minister's words, Germany "always spoke for political resolution of the conflict and continues to do it." "Berlin is also discussing with the Russian leadership human rights issues," he said.
In any case, the fight against international terrorism is a challenge having to do with all of us, said the German Foreign Minister.
