Lisbon, 03/03/2000 (Agence Europe) - The President of the Council of the European Union, Jaime Gama, told the press Friday afternoon that Russia had authorised the President of the Committee of the International Red Cross to go to Chechnya, for a visit coordinated with the United Nations Higfh Commissioner for Refugees. The Portuguese Foreign Minister announced this decision by Moscow following a trilateral meeting, in Lisbon on 3 March, between the European Union (himself, French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine, who will chair the EU Council in the second half of the year, the High Representative for Cfsp, Javier Solana and the Commissioner for external relations, Chris Patten), Russia (Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov) and the United States (Secretary of State Madeleine Albright).
Friday's trilateral meeting was preceded, on Thursday, by a meeting of the EU Troika with Mr. Ivanov, in which Messrs. Gama, Vedrine and Patten clearly stated to Mr. Ivanov that the gestures Russia had so far made concerning an international presence in Chechnya were still not sufficient. Moscow had agreed to two envoys from the Council of Europe going to Chechnya, but with limited autonomy, whereas Mr. Patten told the press that there needed to be a stronger presence, including through the OSCE.
At the end of the Troika meeting with Mr. Ivanov, Mr. Gama stressed that, while "consistently" assessing the situation in Chechnya, the European Union maintained the position adopted in Helsinki towards Russia. The EU representatives, said Mr. Gama, again placed emphasis on a peaceful solution in Chechnya, "under the control of credible international organisations". As for Mr. Ivanov, questioned by the press, he did not want to speak of EU "sanction" against Moscow, while admitting that Russia had regretted certain "measures" taken by the Fifteen.