Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-01-18-Speech-3-292"
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"en.20060118.22.3-292"2
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"Mr President, Chechnya is a running sore on our continent, with hundreds of thousands of dead and maimed and with thousands of children traumatised and orphaned. With the appalling refugee crisis, this is a human tragedy in every respect. Atrocities are being committed by both military and paramilitary forces, and no one has been brought to justice or called to account. Both sides are responsible for the excesses, but Chechen civilians have suffered out of all proportion. This means that the international community and we in the EU have an obligation, indeed a duty, to intervene. We cannot remain indifferent. We must condemn the outrages and demand that Russia step up its efforts to find a peaceful solution to the problem. In addition to the very constructive things we are already doing, we in the EU may also in time be able to offer help in the form of mediation, reconstruction and further rehabilitation.
In a way, the election was a success, in spite of everything. The situation is very uncertain, however, and an enormous amount remains to be done. The democratic forces in Chechnya need to be identified and an attempt made to initiate a dialogue, because negotiation is the only possible way forward. Naturally, we condemn the terrorist acts committed by the Chechen separatists, and the abominable events in, for example, Beslan and in the Moscow theatre can never be condemned enough.
With such negotiations in prospect, developments in Russia are very worrying. Both the Commissioner and the President-in-Office of the Council have said as much. As a result not only of the legislation that puts obstacles in the way of the voluntary organisations’ work but also of the successive restrictions on the media, it is difficult to initiate a dialogue. It is difficult both to make criticisms and to make any progress.
It is gratifying that the President-in-Office of the Council is so clear in his criticism of Russia. Here in Parliament, we have for a long time sought a more coherent strategy on Russia. Unfortunately, we well know how, for example, the need for energy means that too many of the individual Member States continue to be hypocritical when it comes to our large neighbour’s human rights record and its violations of the rule of law. Chechnya must always be there on the agenda. That is something we owe both the Chechen and Russian peoples, and it is something we owe ourselves if we are to remain credible."@en1
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