Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-11-17-Speech-3-133"
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"en.19991117.5.3-133"2
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"Mr President, the stand on Chechnya drafted by the political groups of the European Parliament is, in my opinion, well prepared. The clear basis of the resolution is the support for Russian territorial integrity. The Russian government is also supported to the extent that we condemn terrorism in all its forms. On the other hand, we also condemn the excessive use of force and we are calling for a political solution to be sought for the Chechen question. In addition, we wish to emphasise that the civilian population must be protected and the refugees taken good care of.
Our position complies with the resolutions we adopted earlier and it is also in harmony with the policy pursued by Western countries. On the other hand, the line adopted by Parliament apparently contradicts public opinion among the citizens of the Member States. The European Parliament’s policy on Chechnya is encumbered by the fact that Western countries have themselves acted in such a way that they have lost the moral authority to clearly condemn the blunders Russia is presently accused of. This is shown, for example, in the article by Prime Minister Putin, recently published in the Herald Tribune, in which he defends his government’s action with reference to examples offered by Western countries.
The particular burden that the West bears now is the war against Yugoslavia. The bombing began without sufficient consideration being given to the objectives and consequences. In Kosovo a war of independence was going on, associated with violence against the civilian population. The West interposed in this war with a bombing campaign against one side, and on behalf of the other, although they had not approved the objectives of the side on behalf of which they had started the war. As no one wanted or was able to use ground troops in the war, the bombing meant that a humanitarian and political crisis became a humanitarian and political catastrophe. If Western policy were consistent, these countries would now be considering the defence of Chechnya, even through military means, but nobody even thinks about it. Now it is considered that Russia has the right to defend its own country’s unity, even through the use of very harsh measures. On the other hand, Russia is now appealing to the notion that it has the right to use military force to achieve its own important political aims in the same way as Western countries did in Yugoslavia. Despite our own moral burden, the European Union must use all its authority to solve the Chechen crisis according to the guidelines the representatives of the Council and the Commission have laid down here.
As we develop a common foreign, security and defence policy for the Union, we must see to it that it has a sound moral basis. Only in that way will we have the authority to insist that others should act in accordance with these principles."@en1
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