Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-02-01-Speech-3-234-000"
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"Mr President, I would like to thank all honourable Members who have spoken in what again has been a very important debate.
A number of Members talked about a moment of hope for change. We have seen that the Russian leadership, at least in theory, has acknowledged the need for change. As I said at the beginning of my contribution, we know it is the least risky option, if I can put it like that.
There is a lot of work and many reforms ahead. The different concerns that have been expressed in the House are enormously significant. We share that concern and indeed raise it with Russia. We want to work with Russia as partners on many of the issues that have been raised, including, by the way, in the context of our new agreement, which a number of colleagues mentioned.
I want to comment on some of the specific issues that have been raised. I will refer to particular points made by individual Members, but that is not to fail to reflect the broader consensus. Mr Fleckenstein talked about the need to see that voters are given unrestricted choice. That is why registration is such an important issue. As you said in your contribution, Sir Graham, the registration rules are disproportionate. We understand that the President of the Central Election Committee is going to have to explain himself in the Duma, and there are questions there which we need to come back to and which we will continue to raise with Russia. We are following matters and talking with the demonstrators and with the opposition via our delegation. Helga Schmidt, whom I mentioned earlier, was in Moscow until today, and has been meeting with them on my behalf over the last couple of days.
A number of colleagues also raised the issue of the third energy package. Mr Kowal, I would say that it shows how important our market is that Russia spends so much time lobbying on this. It depends greatly on the EU market, and that is extremely important in our relationship with Russia. I agree that opinion is shifting and that the new President will need to think about how he governs differently. That is a significant part of many of the contributions that have been made concerning where Russia is going, the demands that people have for change and, in a sense, the atmosphere. A number of you described your visits to Russia and talks with individuals about how things are beginning to change. The policy that we are trying to develop is a good one, but it requires us to look at Russia from a bilateral set of relationships, as international partners on many things, and at the responsibilities that we have together in the international community.
Russian civil society is very important, but I would say to those who have raised this issue that the relationship between this Parliament and civil society is also extremely valuable. Many times in the course of our deliberations about what has happened in North Africa, in what is now called the Arab Spring or the Arab uprising, I have raised the fact that Members of Parliament are critically important in explaining and discussing with people the value and importance of democracy, what it can bring and how to engage with it. I do hope that will continue. Mr Batten, the important point you make for me is that Golos and Memorial should be allowed to work freely and I agree with you on that.
I agree too on the importance of the bigger picture, and also of the smaller details, and that we need to have the tough discussions with Russia that Mr Svensson talked about. We also know that there is a great deal of interest in the European Union. I accept that maybe the Duma does not discuss us, Ms Flašíková, but we do know that there is a lot of interest in the EU from the Russian people and from Ministers and officials. The Eurasian Union, which is much talked about now and which I discussed with Deputy Prime Minister Shuvalov when I was there in November, is in a sense inspired by the way that the European Union works.
Ms Vaidere, I know very well the concerns in Latvia about the language issue and I know that it is very sensitive, but I am quite sure that the Latvian authorities will handle this well.
In conclusion, this has been an important debate as we continue to try to develop the relationship with Russia. On the one hand, we see the advantages now within the World Trade Organization and the capacity we have to develop those trade relationships; we see a more active civil society with which we can engage – we can use the tools that we have to try to engage further; we see the need to continue to press on some of the basic issues that have been quite rightly raised here about the way that the internal situation in Russia is developing. Then there is Russia as an international player with whom we work on issues such as Iran. We are increasingly trying to work with it on Syria and on other areas where working together in the Security Council and the importance of collaboration really come to the fore."@en1
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