Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-12-01-Speech-3-058"
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"en.20041201.10.3-058"2
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"Ladies and gentlemen, it is pleasant to hear that in this Chamber today we are reasonably united. Not only are various political tendencies united, but so are the Council and Commission. However, I should like to draw your attention to certain truths which we should take into account.
There is a certain paradox, that often enough we see what is happening far away from us better than what is happening next door. To be quite frank, I was surprised that even before the first round of the elections in Ukraine we were already receiving very many signals that there were violations and that the opposition candidate was not being given the opportunity to campaign openly. We did not react, and it was only when these flagrant injustices manifested themselves in the second round that we all bestirred ourselves. That too is good.
The policy of the European Union has never been and never will be aggressive, but the European Union is not and cannot be a mere talking shop that dispenses advice. The European Union is a sufficiently strict and powerful political union and that is why the European Union must, at all levels – Council, Commission and Parliament – demonstrate a strict and determined political will. That is why the European Union cannot merely point out the fraud involved in the Ukrainian elections. We cannot pretend that we do not see what forces lie behind the falsification of the Ukrainian elections. Those forces understand only determined and strong policies and actions. Otherwise, we shall have a situation where on one half of the field a game of tennis is being played but on the other a game of rugby.
I do not mean here simply the European Union and Russia, the West and the East. I am very familiar with Russia, and I know that there are a great many democratic and intelligent people there. Yet the leading tendency is antidemocratic and thirsting for revenge. We must therefore definitely support democracy in Ukraine, analyse the situation that has come about and forecast the future. That is why I agree with my colleague Elmar Brok, that the Council and the Commission must also react very speedily and very determinedly."@en1
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