Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-12-14-Speech-3-553-000"
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"en.20111214.34.3-553-000"2
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"Madam President, a great deal has been achieved in the four years since we implemented the EU strategy for Central Asia. The Union has established a continuous political dialogue and regular dialogues on human rights. Initiatives and important programmes have been activated in support of the EU’s seven priority areas.
However, in light of the Arab Spring, and in the context of the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan, which is already under way, bearing in mind the tragic events of southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010, the limitations of our strategy are much more visible today, and this requires a major re-assessment on our part.
The strategy is due to be reviewed by the European External Action Service in 2012, and we therefore considered that some key recommendations should be set out in the report, based on the following observation: the EU is unable to reconcile its values and interests in effective programmes that are adapted to the realities and developments in the region. Europe lacks visibility there. Its presence is still in its early stages. The funding devoted to the strategy is modest and would even appear to be under threat. We do not give sufficient open support to civil society, independent media or human rights defenders. Sometimes, in fact, it is pro-government foundations that benefit from European financial support, much to the frustration of genuine NGOs.
In the light of this situation, the European Parliament is convinced that it should develop a new EU approach based on human security and regional cooperation. All our actions, projects and initiatives should follow the guiding principle of promoting human rights, the rule of law and democracy. Europe and its Western partners, who are bogged down in the quagmire of Afghanistan and concerned about their military bases in the region, have, for too long, given priority to the stability of the regimes in place rather than human rights. However, stability based on repression does not last long, and the Arab Spring is proof of that.
We should be careful not to make the same mistakes twice, and we must be capable of better responding to the political vacuum that a similar change could trigger in Central Asia, in a context of ethnic and regional conflicts. In Kazakhstan, trade unions in the oil sector have been on strike for more than six months despite merciless repression. Early legislative elections will be held on 15 January 2012, against a backdrop of unprecedented social tension and the banning of political parties. Will we have the courage and honesty to tell the Kazhak Government that the EU will draw the appropriate conclusions from these events during negotiations on future partnership and cooperation agreements?
We are alarmed by the Human Rights Watch report published yesterday on the indescribably cruel torture that is carried out in Uzbekistan prisons. In Tashkent, human rights defenders have just been arrested. We were happy to hear Baroness Ashton, in Parliament, insisting that human rights should henceforth form the backbone of all of our external action. We therefore recommend carrying out a review of our strategy for Central Asia.
I am especially proud of the fact that Parliament has put conditionality and the principles of differentiation and ‘more for more’ at the heart of its new approach, while recommending that we should enhance our support for civil society and independent media organisations. The EU cannot be honest in one part of the world while failing to respond to violations of its values in another.
Lastly, we should consider regional cooperation. The challenges these countries are facing call for a concerted approach: ethnic conflicts, water resource management, security problems, circulation of arms and trafficking of drugs and people. These threats directly affect the security and stability of Central Asia, and also of Europe. We therefore recommend that the EU should play the role of mediator and facilitator. In order to promote dialogue between these countries, we recommend establishing an
parliamentary forum, which the EU, through the European Parliament delegation, could propose to the parliaments of the five Central Asian countries. MEPs would thus be able to share their experience and expertise while meeting with their counterparts."@en1
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