Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-05-18-Speech-4-251"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20000518.11.4-251"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, we are currently witnessing massive attacks on the freedom of the press. Last week, Mr Putin’s troops occupied the largest opposition publishing house in Russia. Yesterday, the same thing happened in Belgrade to the independent radio station there. In Iran, we have a situation where newspapers are being banned for simply acting as a voice for those forces and individuals who were so successful in the last election, and who embodied – and continue to embody – hopes of pluralism in Iran. I therefore fully support everything Mrs Rühle has said. We must take advantage of this phase to offer our firm support to democratic forces and forces for reform in Iran, because what we are witnessing at present is a fresh start and yet simultaneously a setback. What is very much at issue here is that we should not allow those forces to be isolated, which is what the regime is working towards. That is why it has also been so devastating that the developments at the conference in Berlin occurred, thus giving the regime a pretext for taking measures against the opposition in Iran.
I am convinced that a dialogue with Iran is, in fact, the only way to influence developments in that country. We must not leave the opposition unsupported by adopting measures that encourage isolation. Instead, we should press, through intensive contacts not only with the government but also with the opposition, and by the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission bringing all their considerable influence to bear, for an end to these developments, and to ensure that the reform process in Iran, which is fragile but promising, is not once again choked at birth!"@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples