Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-02-26-Speech-4-133"
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"en.20040226.5.4-133"2
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"Mr President, the fact that we voted in favour of this report by Mr Belder does not imply any interference in Russia's internal power structure; the European Parliament must respect Russia's sovereignty. It does, however, mean that we should grasp this opportunity to impart a new impetus to the debate on EU policy towards Russia at the very time when, by virtue of enlargement, we are gaining common borders because of the accession to the European Union of countries previously within the sphere of influence of the former Soviet Union, and that we will inevitably have some important points to make in this area.
The European Union cannot choose its neighbours, but it can choose those countries with which it wishes to cooperate. This report should be a wake-up call for us, reminding us about the lack of progress made in cooperation with Russia, about the difficult situation that persists in Chechnya, where it is almost impossible to reconcile respect for human rights and the fight against terrorism, and about the fragility of certain key aspects of constructing democracy in that country.
Are these adequate reasons for us to weaken our commitment towards our strategic relations with Russia? No, quite the opposite! What is at stake here is the need to find ways of making the partnership between the European Union and Russia more effective, not only politically speaking, but also in terms of economics, security and European and world stability."@en1
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