Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-03-14-Speech-3-291"

PredicateValue (sorted: default)
rdf:type
dcterms:Date
dcterms:Is Part Of
dcterms:Language
lpv:document identification number
"en.20010314.13.3-291"2
lpv:hasSubsequent
lpv:speaker
lpv:spokenAs
lpv:translated text
"Mr President, the words I am about to express are intended as a token of my friendship towards the Ukrainian people. I am aware of my responsibility as Chairman of the Interparliamentary delegation, but I also believe that it is important for us to be critical on occasions. The EU’s common strategy with regard to Ukraine is the practical expression of a clear, political stance, namely that Ukraine forms an integral part of our continent, that welfare and stability in Ukraine have a substantial impact on welfare and stability in the rest of Europe, and that, for that reason, the European Union is willing to assume part of the responsibility for the democratic, economic and social development in that country. That is the good news. However, let it be clear that the European Union cannot shoulder responsibility for building up the Ukrainian state and helping that country in its socio-economic development on its own, or even take the lead in doing so. With this common strategy, the European Union and its Member States have demonstrated their willingness to give the necessary technical and financial back-up, provided that the Ukrainian political leaders are willing, and have the courage, to take control of a process of far-reaching reform. That is a difficult, but not impossible task. If we are critical, we are so in the interest of Ukraine. Our demands of that country should be the government’s own. Part of the EU’s responsibility is also to express our concern about the issues which relate to the fundamental human rights and civil rights in that country. This includes, among other things, the investigation into the murder of journalist Gongadze. As Delegation Chairman and co-chairman of the EU-Ukraine cooperation committee, I have already called for further investigations, also with regard to the brutal and harsh manner in which demonstrations have been broken up in Ukraine. Governments are not formed on the streets, but democracy can be killed off on the streets if the right to the freedom of speech is taken away from the population by means of violence. That is the bad news. In the capacity of Chairman of the parliamentary cooperation committee, I will presently be joining my colleagues in a trip to Ukraine, in the hope that we, partly on the basis of the report which is being discussed today and adopted tomorrow, will enter into a fruitful discussion on the issues which concern us all and about which we need to be concerned as a group."@en1

Named graphs describing this resource:

1http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/rdf/English.ttl.gz
2http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/rdf/Events_and_structure.ttl.gz
3http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/rdf/spokenAs.ttl.gz

The resource appears as object in 2 triples

Context graph