Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-09-16-Speech-3-160"
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"en.20090916.16.3-160"2
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"I would like to congratulate the rapporteur, Alojz Peterle, on his highly factual and – I would like to stress – very balanced report on the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Communities and Tajikistan.
Tajikistan has come in for a lot of criticism for its lack of democracy. What we most often disapprove of is the lack of press freedom, religious freedom and corruption. I do not wish to dispute those charges here. However, we do need to take into account the fact that Tajikistan has recently made progress both in combating corruption and improving the human rights situation, as well as various other sensitive areas. In addition, it is a relatively stable country, which is important, considering its strategic location. However this has already been covered today.
As a neighbour of Afghanistan, and the associated problems of the large-scale production and sale of drugs, terrorism and growing extremism, and with another increasingly unstable neighbour, Pakistan, Tajikistan could be a natural ally of the European Union. It is therefore in the EU’s interest to continue to support democratic processes in that country and to strengthen its political, economic and social potential.
Let us remember that Tajikistan is the poorest of the former Soviet republics. It was one of just 12 countries that was last year on the UN’s list of the countries worst affected by the world food crisis. I am pleased in this respect that the report also mentions the Millennium Development Goals. Let us also remind Tajikistan of these.
The European Union is Tajikistan’s primary trading partner. Both sides should make efforts to implement the agreement as fast as possible, thereby supporting the country’s development and stabilising its economic situation. Merely criticising what is wrong in Tajikistan will not achieve this. We also need to send out a positive signal that we care about developing contacts with this country and, in my opinion, Mr Peterle’s report, along with the entire Parliament, has sent just such a signal."@en1
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