(26/05/05) Rapport relaties EU-Rusland - Gemiste kans voor Tsjetsjeens vredesproces

• 2005-05-26

Parliament's EU-Russia report:
Greens/EFA regret missed opportunities on Chechnya

Reacting to a report on relations between the European Union and Russia that was amended and adopted today by the plenary session of the European Parliament in Brussels, Bart Staes, Belgian Green MEP for Groen!, and member of the Parliament's Russia delegation, said:
"We Greens cannot accept that Parliament downplayed the section of the report dealing with Chechnya and deleted a call on Russia to work towards an inclusive political solution to the conflict instead of the present military approach. War will never come to an end unless the Russian authorities make serious efforts along these political lines. There is, additionally, a real risk that the conflict could spill over into the whole of the Caucasus. Our Group truly regrets that we have missed an opportunity to force the EU to open its eyes to the violations of human rights in Chechnya. The Union must not be allowed to continue to prioritise geopolitical and economic considerations over human rights."

Tatjana Ždanoka, Latvian MEP for Par Cilveka Tiesibam Vieneta Latvija, and member of the civil liberties committee, added;
"Building a strategic partnership with Russia means sharing common values with particular regard for human rights and democracy. Today's Russia is far from these values. We are very worried about the state of Russian democracy which is deteriorating under the measures taken by the Kremlin to bring the media under government control and put pressure on NGOs and human rights defenders. But we think, as well, that the best way to convince Russia to adopt EU standards is to show our commitment to the protection of the Russian speaking minorities in the Baltic states which is currently far from satisfactory."

French Green chair of the Parliament's delegations to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, Marie-Anne Isler-Beguin, added:
"I regret the Council's decision not to provide some form of replacement for the OSCE border monitoring mission with Georgia. I hope that this will not lead to Russia acting on statements that it will reserve the option of launching pre-emptive strikes on bordering countries in the event of threats to its security. Moscow must respect the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of its neighbouring countries."

Milan Horáèek, German Green member of the parliamentary subcommittee on human rights, concluded:
"While I am disappointed that we missed opportunities to increase the prominence of human rights in our dialogue with Russia, I am happy that MEPs adopted my amendment of the Yukos case as a test of Russia's respect for the rule of law. With today's vote, I hope that the Russian authorities will be able to make it possible for the lawsuit to proceed according to the rules of an independent legal system."