Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-01-18-Speech-4-142"
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"en.20010118.7.4-142"2
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". – Mr President, I wish to begin by saying a few words about humanitarian assistance to this region. We are the single most important provider of humanitarian assistance to the northern Caucasus and, over the years, we have also been the main provider of humanitarian assistance to the southern Caucasus region.
A year ago exactly I was in North Ossetia and I tried to get into Chechnya but the Russian authorities would not allow this for security reasons. But we are still there.
Right now our biggest problem is the abduction of the men who worked for one of the organisations we are funding in Chechnya. This, of course, has caused a great deal of concern. The immediate reaction was to withdraw from Chechnya. However, many organisations in Russia have urged us to reconsider this and to come back. As a humanitarian provider this puts us in a dilemma. On the one hand, we need to be there, and we are very pleased that Parliament understands the need for ECHO to operate on the basis of a "remote control operation" in these circumstances. On the other hand, sometimes it is a little too easy for us to tell the organisations we are funding to go there – it is the voluntary staff who have to go. We have to find a balance that is ethically acceptable as a donor. At the moment we are reconsidering whether or not to go back to Chechnya, as we are needed there.
Let me turn to Georgia. The EU has already expressed serious concern over the Russian Federation's unilateral decision to introduce visa requirements for Georgian citizens. The entire international community, including Russia, is committed to supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the independent states. Applying a special visa regime or allowing exemptions for the inhabitants of secessionist regions could imply support for the legitimacy of their regimes and undermine Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
In addition to the introduction of visa requirements, Georgia has faced a number of other crises in its relations with Russia in recent months, in particular, over interruptions in gas supplies, the pace of withdrawal of military bases and rescheduling discussions with the Paris Club.
Concerning Russian gas supplies to Georgia, we urge that all actions are based exclusively on commercial and contractual considerations. I want to stress that it is in Russia's interests to be seen as an internationally credible and reliable gas supplier. I say this as a European.
We are naturally concerned about the humanitarian, social and economic consequences for the Georgian people, as well as the overall stability in the Caucasus. Russia too has no interest in seeing increased instability in the Caucasus.
Georgia is a member of the UN, the OSCE and the Council of Europe and it has a partnership and cooperation agreement with the EU. It deserves our support. We call upon the states of the region to use the mechanisms of the OSCE, as well as any other appropriate peaceful instruments, to resolve that dispute quickly."@en1
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