Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-12-01-Speech-3-036"
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"en.20041201.10.3-036"2
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"Mr President, I should like to take this opportunity to greet Mr Tarasyuk, who once shared with me the chairmanship of the inter-parliamentary delegation, and whom I know as a champion of reforms in his country. The reason for the political crisis in Ukraine is the violation of democracy. The elections did not meet democratic standards. There was no balanced campaign, the electorate was intimidated and fraud was committed in various ways. That is unacceptable. It follows that we reject the result of the second round of the presidential elections. What is central in this issue is the right of the people of Ukraine to make up their own minds in an open and transparent, democratic process. We side with everyone in the Ukraine who stands up for their democratic rights. We must, first and foremost, find a way out, a political and peaceful solution to the situation that has arisen. The EU must deploy all diplomatic means in order to help bring this about.
There is, however, a greater challenge yet, for this political crisis does not stand on its own. The outcome of the elections will have a great impact on the EU’s relations with Ukraine, either in the positive or negative sense. The only satisfactory solution to the crisis is that justice be done to democratic principles and to the will of the Ukrainian people. The outcome of the elections was also rejected by the Ukrainian parliament. The solution is to re-stage the second round of the elections with the close involvement of international observers, ensuring that this third round takes place under circumstances that are totally different from those under which the first and second rounds were held, a situation in which democratic standards are, of course, respected under the close observation of the international community. We call on everyone to cooperate in this.
The democratic aspirations of the people of Ukraine are unmistakable and receive our unqualified support. The people’s involvement is evident from the scale of the demonstrations. I would express my great appreciation and admiration for the protesters in the cities of the Ukraine who argue in favour of the recovery of democracy. The situation in that country is tense, though, and we would call on both the opposition and the authorities to preserve the non-violent nature of the actions and to prevent the situation from escalating. If the authorities were to decide on using violence against the peaceful protesters, this will, in our view, immediately impact on relations with the European Union. Similarly, the division of the country, for which some appear to be pressing, will engender a fresh, much more serious crisis and would not in any way contribute to a satisfactory solution. Moreover, this ambition gives a false representation of the current state of affairs.
What lies at the heart of the matter is the violation of democratic standards, and not the fact that there is a geographical division in the support for the candidates. Neither is this about Ukraine’s choice between the European Union and Russia. On account of its location, economy and history, Ukraine will always need to maintain in-depth relations with both. Although today’s debate is not about our relationship with Russia, Russia
an important factor in the issue and, unfortunately, adopts a slightly different stance in this respect. Last week, Mr Balkenende, the Dutch Prime Minister and President of the Council, on behalf of the presidency, expressed very clearly the contrasts between Europe and Russia, and on that we congratulate him. It is, nevertheless, of major importance that Russia be involved in the way in which the crisis is solved and that the Kremlin’s support be sought for the staging of another second round of the elections.
Europe benefits greatly from stable governments in all its neighbouring countries. On account of its size and location, Ukraine is a crucial partner. The European Union must offer scope for the accelerated strengthening of political and economic cooperation. Needless to say, the EU and Ukraine can only cooperate in a more concrete form if a satisfactory and democratic solution has been found for the present crisis. In my view, the debate in question should produce a better response to the European aspirations of Ukraine than has been the case to date. I think that not so much this Parliament, but certainly the Commission and the Council have avoided the response to that question over the past few years and like Mr Brok, I am not that impressed with the EU’s commitment to Ukraine in recent years. We now have a different Commission, though, and that opens up new opportunities. Today, we stand united in the reaction to the crisis. I trust that once the crisis has been resolved, hopefully in the positive sense, we can start taking concerted action along with Ukraine and with better policy than has been adopted so far."@en1
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