Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-03-14-Speech-3-409-000"
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"en.20120314.25.3-409-000"2
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"Mr President, first of all, I would like to express, both on my own behalf and on behalf of the High Representative, my most sincere and heartfelt condolences to all the parents and families in Belgium who have suffered such terrible losses in today’s tragic accident in Switzerland. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims and with the Belgian people.
The day after the elections, outgoing President Medvedev instructed the Prosecutor General to examine the verdicts handed down to 32 convicts considered by the opposition as political prisoners, including Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his former business partner, Platon Lebedev. The President has also ordered the Justice Ministry to prepare a report on the legal reasons for denying the registration of Mikhail Kasyanov’s, Boris Nemtsov’s and Vladimir Ryzhkov’s People’s Freedom Party. These are encouraging signals.
The next step: we have a strong consensus in the EU that we must engage with Russia – critically, yes, but also constructively. Without Russia, we cannot solve the regional challenges in our common neighbourhood, in Syria or Iran, or most of the pressing global challenges such as climate change and the environment. This approach has been quite successful recently. With Medvedev and the government led by Mr Putin, we have been able to build more constructive relations and to achieve results. Russian WTO accession is one key result that will bind this large economy into the international rules-based framework.
The Partnership for Modernisation is another one. Many projects have already been prepared and launched, including technical and regulatory modernisation as well as reforms of the judiciary and civil society involvement. We have also begun a process on common steps to be fulfilled before we could consider launching negotiations on a visa-waiver agreement. All of this will be of mutual benefit.
The new civic and political awakening in Russia has already led to some political reforms, with the first Duma reading of bills introduced by President Medvedev to liberalise political party registration rules and presidential candidates’ registrations and to reinstall direct elections of regional governors.
The process is encouraging and will have consequences, especially in Russia’s many regions. Change may be slower than one would hope, but we should have patience. It is a good thing that both authorities and protesters want gradual evolution, not revolution. A cautious but real dialogue has begun between them, and the quality and dynamics of the political situation in Russia have changed.
The key issue for us now is how we can support this reform process. The bilateral initiatives just mentioned provide us with an excellent basis to build on. As Cathy Ashton has stated, the EU looks forward to working with the incoming Russian President and the new government in full support of our shared modernisation agenda. The next major step in our Strategic Partnership, apart from all the ongoing regular work, will be the next EU-Russia Summit, due to be held in Russia just before the summer.
I thank you and look forward to hearing your views and to your resolution, which will be adopted tomorrow.
After that, I will turn to Russia. Mr President, honourable Members, it is a pleasure to be here again today to discuss with you the outcome of the presidential elections in Russia on behalf of High Representative/Vice-President Ashton.
Let me first of all thank Parliament for the strong voice it has consistently given to European citizens’ concerns about democracy, fair elections and human rights in Russia.
Russia is our largest neighbour; it is an important business partner and a strategic partner on many global and regional issues. So it matters to our citizens what the situation is with regard to human rights and the rule of law in Russia. Parliament followed both the Russian State Duma elections on 4 December and the presidential elections on 4 March very closely. It has adopted several resolutions expressing the expectations of European citizens that Russia will live up to her international commitments to ensure free and fair elections.
You have also given High Representative/Vice-President Ashton several opportunities to address the plenary on these crucial issues. In addition, several hearings, organised by the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Subcommittee on Human Rights, the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee and individual political groups, have taken place since December on these elections and on human rights more generally. Catherine Ashton has asked me to thank Parliament for all this important work. She also asked me, in particular, to convey the message that she shares Parliament’s concerns about the case of the arrest and death in pre-trial detention of lawyer, Sergey Magnitsky.
Restrictive measures are a sensitive instrument that should be considered in specific situations and in accordance with the respective EU guidelines.
The European External Action Service is currently looking into possible ways to convey our expectation that the investigation of this case will be taken forward properly.
The Russian presidential election went largely as expected. OSCE and Council of Europe observers gave a clear evaluation: opportunities were not equal during the preparations, and procedural violence occurred during the voting and counting process itself. We agree with their preliminary report and will remind Russia of its international commitment to free and fair elections.
High Representative/Vice-President Catherine Ashton issued a statement the day after the elections with five main elements. She recognised the clear victory of Vladimir Putin, noted international observers’ recognition of the significant civic engagement in these elections, referred to international observers’ findings of irregularities, encouraged Russia to address these shortcomings and looked forward to working with the incoming President and new government on our shared modernisation agenda, which should cover both economic and political reforms."@en1
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