The conflict in Chechnya remains a source of instability in the North Caucasus region. The political, economic, social and human rights situation in Chechnya is still most unsatisfactory and a cause for concern All the EU institutions are very well aware how important this issue is in our relations with the Russian Federation.
As you know, parliamentary elections were held in Chechnya on 28 November 2005; these were the first legislative elections in eight years. Unfortunately, for reasons of security, the EU and the OSCE were unable to send observers. However, the then Presidency of the Council viewed it as encouraging that parliamentary elections were being held in Chechnya for the first time in eight years, although, it has to be said, they were far from perfect. The EU supported the training of local election observers. The European Commission granted EUR 60 000 in aid to support objective professional local monitoring of the elections by various organisations of civil society.
Immediately after the elections the then EU Presidency issued a statement noting that the elections had not been perfect and that some observers had raised concerns. It urged the Russian authorities to investigate reports of irregularities or intimidation. The statement concluded that the further strengthening of democratic institutions, as part of an inclusive political process, was essential for the sustainable and peaceful long-term development of Chechnya as well as to peace and stability in the North Caucasus region as a whole. The EU has always expressed serious misgivings on the political process in Chechnya and continues to urge the Russian authorities to make this political process more open and legitimate.
Issues of human rights and democracy are regularly discussed in relations between the European Union and the Russian Federation. The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, laying the basis for the relationship between Russia and the EU, provides for a commitment to common values such as democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Chechnya forms a major topic at the six-monthly human rights consultations with Russia, officially launched in March 2005 (under Luxembourg's Presidency of the EU). During these consultations the EU raises its concerns, in particular at disappearances and at the fact that human rights violations often remain unpunished. The last round of these extremely important consultations was held in Brussels on 8 September 2005; they will be continued this year, under the Austrian Presidency of the Council. Sustained commitment is needed from the European Union and its Members here, since these consultations offer a forum where such issues can be raised in a very open and constructive manner.
Since the outbreak of the second Chechen conflict in September 1999, the EU has taken a clear position on the question of respect for human rights and has kept to it. The Union continues to be in favour of a political solution to the conflict, and the Russian Federation is called upon to cooperate closely with international human rights mechanisms, particularly with the United Nations and its Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and also with the Council of Europe, particularly the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and of course with the OSCE. The permanent presence of the OSCE once more, in the form of a field mission in Chechnya, would at all events be welcomed. The OSCE has already played a highly important role in efforts to find a solution during the first conflict in Chechnya; a comparable role would also be of great significance on this occasion.
At the EU-Russia summit in November 2004, Russia agreed to the European Commission's EUR 20 million aid programme to provide support for socio-economic recovery in the Northern Caucasus, in addition to continuing humanitarian aid. This programme is intended to make a contribution to promoting an open and democratic political process in Chechnya.
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As regards civil society, the situation of non-governmental organisations, justice reform, the situation of human rights activists and freedom of the media in Russia are areas which give particular cause for concern and are regularly mentioned by the EU to Russian representatives. The EU is firmly convinced that it is in Russia's interest to have a strong and independent civil society.
At the end of December 2005, the Duma and the Federation Council approved the bill on non governmental organisations. The EU has repeatedly expressed its concern at this bill, notably in a letter of 22 November 2005 to the Speaker of the Duma, Boris Gryzlov, and at a troika demarche on 2 December 2005 in Moscow. Now that the law has been signed, I expect that we shall again adopt a position. According to the bill as it stands, foreign NGOs must forward to the Russian authorities reports on their programmes, funding and organisation; Russian NGOs may be prohibited from working in restricted areas, which naturally limits their activities a great deal in sensitive regions and areas or even makes them impossible.
The G8 Presidency, which Russia has held since 1 January 2006, was supposed to be an incentive for the country not only to improve its image on the international stage, but also to help it to make more active and sustained efforts than hitherto to resolve the conflict in Chechnya and thus also achieve an improvement of the situation in the Southern Caucasus, where three other conflicts – South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh – although "frozen", urgently await a solution. The EU has declared that it will monitor Russia's course of action during the G8 Presidency attentively.
In the future too, the question of civil society will be brought up repeatedly at the six-monthly human rights consultations with Russia.
We must be resolute in our determination to continue the dialogue with the Russian Federation on Chechnya and at other meetings on human rights, regardless of all the difficulties and resistance, and to press for an improvement in the situation.
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