EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION OF 5 JUNE 2008 ON THE SITUATION IN
The European
Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions
on
– having regard to its resolution
of 15 November 2007 on strengthening the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP)(3) , and its resolutions of 17 January 2008
on a more effective EU policy for South Caucasus(4) ,and on a Black Sea Regional Policy
Approach(5) ,
– having regard to the Partnership
and Cooperation Agreement between the European Communities and their Member
States, of the one part, and Georgia, of the other part(6) , which entered into force on 1 July 1999,
– having regard to the ENP Action
Plan endorsed by the EU-Georgia Cooperation Council on 14 November 2006,
– having regard to the UN Security
Council resolution 1808(2008) of 15 April 2008 that supports the territorial
integrity of
– having regard to the
recommendations adopted by the EU-Georgia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee
on 28-30 April 2008,
– having regard to the
declarations by the Slovenian Presidency of the Council on behalf of the EU on
the escalation of tension between Georgia and Russia of 18 April and 2 May
2008,
– having regard to the Statement
of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions of 22 May 2008 of the International
Election Observation Mission to the Georgian parliamentary elections,
– having regard to the conclusions
of the investigation by UNOMIG of 26 May 2008 into the shooting down of a
Georgian unmanned aircraft,
– having regard to the conclusions
on Georgia of the General Affairs and External Relations Council of 26 May
2008,
– having regard to Rule 103(4) of
its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas the European Union
remains committed to further developing and deepening its relations with
Georgia and supports the necessary political and economic reforms, measures to
establish solid and efficient democratic institutions and an effective and
independent judiciary and further efforts to combat corruption, thereby
creating a peaceful and prosperous Georgia that can contribute to stability in
the region and the rest of Europe,
B. whereas following a
Presidential decree Russian ministries and other state agencies were instructed
to establish official ties with counterpart agencies in the Georgian breakaway
regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia,
C. whereas the Russian Federation
withdrew from the 19 January 1996 decision of the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS) Council of Heads of State which prohibits the signatory states
from any military cooperation with the separatist authorities of Abkhazia,
D. whereas in May 2008 Russia
unilaterally deployed further troops and moved heavy artillery into Abkhazia
under the auspices of a CIS-sanctioned peacekeeping mission, and announced its
intention to establish 15 additional check-points along the administrative
boundary-line; whereas Russian representatives announced that the number of
troops of the Russian battalion stationed in South Ossetia may be increased,
E. whereas on 20 April 2008 a
Georgian reconnaissance drone was shot down over Abkhazia; whereas the recent
report by UNOMIG on the incident indicates that the reconnaissance drone was
shot down by a Russian aircraft; whereas the report also states that Georgia
should stop sending these reconnaissance drones over Abkhazia,
F. whereas no official high-level
meetings have taken place between Georgian and Abkhaz representatives under the
auspices of the United Nations (UN) since October 2007; whereas the Georgian
President Mikheil Saakashvili has put forward new proposals concerning the
resolution of the conflict in Abkhazia, which include broad political
representation at the highest levels of the Georgian government, granting veto
rights on all major legislation related to Abkhazia, and establishing
international guarantees to ensure broad federalism, unlimited autonomy and
security,
G. whereas
H. whereas on 15 May 2008 the UN
General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/62/249 recognising the right of
"refugees and internally displaced persons and their descendants,
regardless of ethnicity" to return to Abkhazia and emphasising the
importance of preserving the property rights of refugees and internally
displaced persons, including victims of reported "ethnic cleansing",
I. whereas the Tbilisi authorities
have suspended bilateral talks with Moscow on Russia's accession to the World
Trade Organization (WTO) in protest at the Russian decision to step up
cooperation with the self-proclaimed republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia;
whereas the Russian ban on imports of Georgian wine and agricultural goods is
still in place,
J. whereas a nationwide plebiscite
took place in Georgia on 5 January 2008; whereas at NATO's 2-4 April 2008
summit in Bucharest no membership action plan was offered to Georgia but a
political commitment for eventual membership was made,
K. whereas Russia's granting of
citizenship to Abkhazians and South Ossetians, enabling them to take advantage
of the EU-Russia visa facilitation agreement, is increasingly disadvantaging
Georgian citizens as a similar agreement between Georgia and the EU is not yet
in place,
L. whereas, despite efforts to
conduct Georgia's elections in line with international standards, the
International Election Observation Mission to the Georgian parliamentary
elections of 21 May 2008 identified some problems which should be addressed in
due course,
1. Expresses its deep concern at
the escalation of the situation in Abkhazia and calls on all parties to refrain
from actions that could further destabilise the situation; calls for renewed international
efforts to bring the parties back to dialogue and restart the peace process
with a view to reaching a lasting and comprehensive settlement;
2. Expresses its deep disapproval
at Russia's announcement that it would establish official ties with institutions
within the separatist authorities of South Ossetia and Abkhazia; deplores, in
this regard, the decision taken by the Russian Ministry of Defence on 31
May 2008 to send its forces to Abkhazia to restore the rail and road
infrastructure in the breakaway region in accordance with the presidential
decree;
3. Reaffirms its full support for
the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally
recognised borders and calls on Russia to revoke this decision, which
undermines the international peace efforts in which Russia is also taking part;
4. Supports the efforts that have
been made to calm the situation through talks between the High Representative
for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), President Saakashvili and
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov; urges the EU Special
Representative for the South Caucasus to find ways to facilitate a dialogue
between all parties concerned, and to try to restore a degree of mutual
confidence;
5. Urges the Russian Federation to
withdraw its additional troops in Abkhazia immediately; takes the view that the
present peacekeeping format must be revised since the Russian troops have lost
their role of neutral and impartial peacekeepers and calls for a deeper European
involvement in these frozen conflicts in order to move the peace processes
forward;
6. Calls on the Council to consider
bolstering the international presence in the conflict zone by sending an
European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) border mission, drawing on the
positive experience of the European Union Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) at
the Transnistrian section of the border between Moldova and Ukraine, while
suggesting that the Member States could take a more active role in UNOMIG;
calls on the UN to boost the mandate and the resources of UNOMIG;
7. Calls on the UN Security
Council, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and
other international organisations to support the proposals of the Georgian
Government for new alternative negotiations and peacekeeping formats, which
include the progressive establishment of truly independent international
peacekeeping forces;
8. Calls, in this regard, on the
Council and the Commission to raise the issues of Abkhazia and South Ossetia
firmly with their Russian counterparts at the forthcoming EU-Russia summit and
during the negotiations on a new strengthened partnership agreement, and urges
the Russian authorities not to oppose an eventual ESDP mission in the region
including an EU presence in civilian and military peacekeeping operations;
9. Calls for an investigation and
inspections by the UN into whether all relevant UN Security Council resolutions
are being closely followed by all actors in the conflict zone, including
whether heavy weaponry is present;
10. Takes note of the outcome of
the parliamentary elections on 21 May 2008 and the findings of the
International Election Observation Mission, which states that overall the
election day was calm and generally was assessed positively, and that
substantial progress has been made since the January presidential elections;
11. Stresses, however, that further
efforts have to be made in close cooperation with the international community
to address and solve all the problems identified in the electoral process
caused by the inconsistent and incomplete implementation of the OSCE and
Council of Europe standards, and to improve and consolidate Georgia's
democratic achievements; calls on the Georgian authorities to deal with all
complaints about the electoral process in a transparent manner and to work on
further improvement so that trust and confidence in the electoral process can
increase further;
12. Calls on all political forces
in Georgia to respect the rule of law, to commit themselves to constructive
dialogue and compromise and to refrain from further polarising Georgian
society; recognises that the lack of trust between the government and the
opposition parties is an obstacle to further democratic development and expects
all political forces to strive for a democratic political culture where
political debates take place in parliament and political opponents are
respected and constructive dialogue is aimed at supporting and consolidating
Georgia's fragile democratic institutions;
13. Supports
14. Calls on the Council and the
Commission to speed up the opening of negotiations on the EU-Georgia visa
regime in order to conclude the visa facilitation and readmission agreements
with Georgia in the near future so as to ensure that citizens of Georgia are
not disadvantaged in relation to those holding Russian passports in the
separatist regions;
15. Welcomes the Council Conclusions
of 18 February 2008 on the ENP concerning the need to start negotiations on
deep and comprehensive Free Trade Agreements (DFTAs) where possible; urges the
Commission to seek a rapid agreement with Georgia on its ambitions and to
secure a negotiation mandate from the Member States; hopes for further progress
on this matter during the French Presidency;
16. Welcomes
the setting-up of the EU-Georgia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security
with a view to stepping up the bilateral dialogue and implementing the ENP
Action Plan;
17. Hopes that Georgia will make
full use of the additional financial possibilities provided by the
Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF), in particular in projects relating to
infrastructure, energy and environmental protection, but calls on the
Commission to pay increased attention to education, democracy building and
social areas;
18. Instructs its President to
forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the
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