Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-03-14-Speech-3-438-000"
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"en.20120314.25.3-438-000"2
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"Mr President, many have argued that the EU should radically rethink its Russian policy; that it cannot be business as usual after months of protests and Vladimir Putin’s return to the Kremlin after the presidential elections. Let me say that such a policy shift would be a strategic blunder.
The EU should continue to do what it is doing, only do it better. Our current approach, a strategic but critical engagement with Russia, remains sound and it is working. I agree with Mr Fleckenstein that what is happening in Russia today is a political awakening of the middle class. The ever louder demands for political reform in Russia are a direct consequence of its economic prosperity and openness to the world, but that prosperity and openness is, in a large part, due to the density and volume of the EU-Russia interactions: investments, trade, tourism and all that.
We need more of that, including visa-free travel in the future. I am not saying that we should not be critical of the Russian Government whenever it disregards human rights or fails to uphold the principles of the rule of law and democracy but, in the end, constructive engagement will do more to advance our values in Russia than tough talk in rigid positions. Therefore, I would say that recent events in Russia and the presidential elections actually present a case for staying the course in terms of our policy. In that framework, I support the resolution."@en1
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