Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-10-22-Speech-3-141"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20031022.6.3-141"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, a look at the topics for the forthcoming summit with Russia reveals among them such important and honourable projects as support for independent media at national, regional and local level, the integration of Russia into a common European economic and social area, cooperation in the fight against international crime and illegal migration, cooperation in the field of nuclear safety, the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol and a number of other things.
I recall, in this context, an article by the Russian chess grand master Garry Kasparov on the eve of President Putin’s visit to the USA, an article that is equally relevant to the imminent summit between Russia and Europe. Its opening line went something like this: ‘Vladimir Putin comes to the USA as a great friend of democracy, of the rule of law, and of human rights. True?’, whereupon Kasparov promptly answered the rhetorical question with a polemical ‘No, false!’. He followed this up with a veritable tirade enumerating incidences of negligence and wrongdoing, arguing, for example, that Russian democracy is only a front; that the press and media are in fact made to toe the line, that liberalisation of the economy is not in fact being implemented, that potential contenders in the forthcoming presidential elections were interned on spurious charges of economic crime, and that the elections in Chechnya were a charade.
I have no wish to promote Mr Kasparov from chess grand master to being the yardstick by which we judge everything, but, even if one regards it as exaggerated – which was his intention – his article has to make us prick our ears up. We must not blot out unpleasant issues. Chechnya is a running sore and the grossly manipulated elections did nothing to heal it. What, then, should we be calling for? We should be calling, firstly, for an end to the lawlessness of Russian army personnel, or else it will never be possible to win the public’s confidence. Secondly, democracy must be put on a broad basis. It would be desirable if the Kremlin were, at the EU-Russia summit, to be reminded, on this point, of its most fundamental responsibility, for it is in any case President Putin who is required by the Russian constitution to guarantee human rights in the Russian Federation as a whole."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples