Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-10-13-Speech-3-089"
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"en.20041013.5.3-089"2
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"Madam President, ever since it declared independence in 1991, Georgia has had major problems with regard to guaranteeing sovereignty across its entire territory. Very quickly, separatist movements in South Ossetia and Abkhazia have managed, by dint of armed conflict, to wrest important parts of the country from central government control. Despite almost unceasing attempts by both the UN in Abkhazia and the OSCE in South Ossetia to reach a peaceful political settlement of these conflicts, not a great deal of progress has been made to date. The continued existence of these hotbeds of conflict constitutes a permanent threat to stability in Georgia. The outbreaks of fighting in South Ossetia in August of this year are only a poignant illustration of this, as are the unlawful, so-called presidential elections in Abkhazia, which jeopardise the development of democracy in Georgia.
Further to today’s topic, I should like to make a few more general remarks about the role of the European Union. We support the line as set out by Mr Solana and Commissioner Patten, and other Members of this House will undoubtedly make more detailed remarks. After eight new Member States from Central Europe joined the European Union, the problems of the neighbouring countries, particularly the states that were once part of the Soviet Union, have drawn a lot closer to us. With Romania’s imminent accession, the lingering conflict over Moldavia about the separation of Transnistria will form a continuing threat to safety and stability at one of the EU’s new external borders. I can assure you that the situation in Transnistria is very similar to that in Georgia. These developments give us no choice but to follow what is going on in the countries around us much more closely. The European Union is required to shoulder much greater responsibility to a far greater extent than before in order to reinforce democracy and stability in those countries. It follows that a sudden outbreak of conflicts and a permanent suppression of human rights on our doorstep constitutes a threat to stability and democracy in the Member States of the EU itself. The conclusion of partnership and cooperation agreements and the development by the Commission of the strategy for the new neighbours and the action plans ensuing from this were a first step in the direction of shouldering this greater responsibility. On behalf of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, I would urge the Commission and Council to promptly translate these initiatives into concrete measures, both in the field of reinforcing democracy and in the field of a thorough reform of economic and social policy in the relevant countries.
The European Union’s responsibility will need to go further than that, though. It will also need to include greater involvement in looking for a peaceful solution to the conflicts in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and not only there, but also in Transnistria and Nagorno-Karabakh. The European Union cannot manage to do this on its own. It will need to seek an alliance with Russia, but the Russian Government will also need to stop playing a dual role in many of those conflict areas; it is unacceptable that Russia should act as an intermediary while at the same time siding with, and supporting, one of the parties involved in the conflicts, whether this be in Transnistria or in Georgia. For the European Union, this is not about wanting to elbow Russia out of that part of Europe and extending its own geostrategic interest in Eastern Europe. The European Union – where possible in tandem with Russia – has an interest in establishing peace, stability, economic and social progress on or near its borders. Thank you."@en1
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