Brussels, 26/02/2004 (Agence Europe) - In its adoption on Thursday of the report by Bastiaan Belder (EDD, Netherlands), the EP has recommended that the EU adopt a more coherent policy towards Russia, and greater steadfastness on dossiers such as Chechnya. To improve dialogue, the EP recommends that the Council establish priorities and agree on concrete measures to ensure coherence in positions with regard to Moscow, and calls upon Member States "not to do anything which could weaken the EU's capacity for influence". The EP recommends that the Council maintain is position on the automatic extension of the EU/Russia partnership and co-operation agreement to the ten future Member States of the EU on 1 May 2004, and demand that Russia ratify the border agreement with Estonia and Latvia immediately.
For Chechnya, the EP recommends that the Council: -make detailed proposals with a view to settlement; -renew appeals to Russia to end infringements of human rights, carry out inquiries into disappearances and torture, and allow UN staff to work in Chechnya. The EP calls upon the EU to support the liberation of Arjan Erkel (member of Médecins sans Frontières who was kidnapped in Chechnya), and calls for the deportation of Chechens in 1944 to be called a genocide, and for the EU to stick to the "Akhmadov" peace plan to resolve the conflict (EUROPE of 26 February, p.6).
The EP also: -criticised the fact that recent actions on the part of the Russian authorities against Ioukos and the Soros Foundation led to strong "suspicion of political interference in the legal procedure"; -insist that Russia respects its commitment son withdrawal of troops from Transnistria and Georgia, and ratifies the Kyoto protocol; calls upon Russia to take maritime security measures, banning access to single-hulled oil tankers to ports with high risk of freezing; insists the Council make the opening of the European market to exports of Russian electricity conditional upon the gradual stopping of first generation RBMK nuclear reactors, increased safety for all other nuclear reactors and better management of nuclear waste.
In his report, Bastiaan Belder made a "self-criticism" of the European Union and its policy towards Russia. He feels that the problem is in the "concrete application" of policies defined under dossiers such as the Ioukos affairs, Kaliningrad and especially Chechnya. "Council should vehemently protest against Mr Putin for the disappearances and assassinations of Chechen nationals", he said. On behalf of the EPP-ED, the Swede Per-Arne Arvidsson called for the EU to be "more active" on the conflict in Chechnya. The EU should "demand" that Russia ends this "bloody war in Europe peacefully (...) which has been going on for ten years", he said, also criticising media control in Russia. The GUE/NGL agreed, adding that the situation in Chechnya is unacceptable. Russia "has a tendency towards authoritarianism, with biased democracy", said Germany André Brie. Whilst supporting Mr Belder's report, Mr Brie would have preferred "stronger criticism against the Council of the EU and the Member States", denouncing, aside from the behaviour of Silvio Berlusconi, that of the German government, which "bows down" to the Russian President. Regretting the absence of a Council representative in the Parliament, Belgian Lista Bonino MEP Oliver Dupuis criticised the arrest of Mr Khodorovski (President of the Russian giant oil tanker Ioukos arrested in Russia in October: Ed). At home, "we would not have put up with a fraction of what happened to him", he said. He then addressed Chris Patten on the subject of Chechnya. "When 200,000 people are wiped out, should we be talking about infringements of human rights or genocide?" he asked. "The Commission has sacrificed Russia on the altar of trade", said Finn Reino Paasilina for the PES. We need "direct influence on Putin", not to boycott Russia but "negotiate without obstacles", he said. Similarly, his compatriot Paavo Varynen, speaking for the Liberals, feels that "threats of sanctions are not helpful", and that "the specific characteristics" of Russian politics "should be taken in to the equation".