MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

23.10.2006

to wind up the debate on statements by the Council and Commission
pursuant to Rule 103(2) of the Rules of Procedure
by José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra, Charles Tannock, Árpád Duka‑Zólyomi, Tunne Kelam and Vytautas Landsbergis
on behalf of the PPE-DE Group
on South Ossetia, Abkhazia and the crisis between Georgia and Russia

B6‑0542/2006

European Parliament resolution on South Ossetia, Abkhazia and the crisis between Georgia and Russia

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in Georgia,

–  having regard to the conclusions on Georgia/Russian Federation relations adopted by the General Affairs and External Relations Council at its meeting of 17 October 2006,

–  having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas the Georgian Parliament adopted resolutions on the peacekeeping forces stationed in the conflict zones on 15 February and 18 July 2006, and whereas the latter called for the necessary steps to be taken for the immediate suspension of peacekeeping operations in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and the immediate withdrawal of the armed forces of the Russian Federation from the territory of Georgia,

B.  whereas the Russian Federation, by issuing passports to the residents of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, is complicating peaceful conflict resolution in the conflict zones in Georgia,

C.  whereas on 30 November 2001 the Russian State Duma adopted the Federal Constitutional Law on the procedure for accession to the Russian Federation and formation of a new subject of the Russian Federation within it, which came into force on 17 December 2001,

D.  whereas on 27 September 2006 tensions between Georgia and Russia mounted after four Russian military officers were detained by the Georgian authorities on charges of espionage,

E.  whereas on 2 October 2006 the Russian authorities cut off all land, air and sea links with Georgia, including mail communications, although the four officers had been released to the OSCE and are now back in Russia,

F.  whereas a number of seriously discriminatory measures have been taken by the Russian authorities against Georgians living in Russia on the grounds of their ethnicity, including the deportation of nearly 700 Georgians from Moscow to Tbilisi and the alleged harassment of Georgian worshippers, businessmen and schoolchildren under the pretext of a clampdown on organised crime and illegal immigrants,

G.  whereas on 21 September 2006 NATO invited Georgia to begin an ‘intensified dialogue’ on membership,

H.  whereas Sergei Ivanov, Russia’s Defence Minister, condemned this move and threatened to send Russian troops to the border with Georgia to ensure that ‘Russia’s security interests are not hurt if Georgia enters NATO’,

I.  whereas Russia still maintains two military bases in Georgia, which it will have to close in two years’ time, and acts as protector to the two separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on Georgian soil,

1.  Regrets the fact that the Russian Federation has imposed an embargo on the import of beverages and fruit from Georgia and Moldova, a measure which has had a negative impact on the economic situation in both countries;

2.  Condemns the fact that South Ossetia will hold a referendum on independence and ‘presidential’ elections on 12 November 2006, and reminds the parties that a similar referendum on independence in 1992 was not internationally recognised;

3.  Regrets the deterioration of the situation in South Ossetia; calls on all the parties to engage actively in a peaceful conflict resolution process based on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within internationally recognised boundaries; supports the peace initiative by the Government of Georgia, as endorsed by the OSCE Ministerial Meeting in Ljubljana in December 2005; encourages all the parties to maintain a political dialogue aimed at resolving the conflict peacefully;

4.  Calls on all the parties involved in South Ossetia to refrain from any violent or military actions and provocations and urges them to comply fully with the commitments given to achieve a peaceful settlement; urges that the law on the accession of other states or parts of them to the Russian Federation should not be used; asks the Council and the Commission to maintain their efforts to secure a peaceful solution to the conflict;

5.  Applauds the work carried out by the OSCE Mission to Georgia and calls on the South Ossetian authorities to guarantee the free movement of the OSCE Mission monitors within the territory of South Ossetia;

6.  Appeals to Russia to respond to the handover of the Russian officers by lifting its economic and diplomatic embargo, putting an end to the measures targeting Georgians in the Russian Federation and resuming normal relations with Georgia;

7.  Cautions against the risk of further escalation and appeals to both Georgia and Russia to avoid inflammatory political rhetoric and further provocative statements;

8.  Calls on both sides to abide by the principles of international law, to meet at the highest political level and to restart dialogue;

9.  Calls on Russia to accept post-Soviet territorial and political realities and to abandon outdated thinking about exclusive zones of influence;

10.  Calls on the Council and Commission to facilitate contacts between all sides and to help with effective crisis management;

11.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the governments and parliaments of Georgia and the Russian Federation and the Council of Europe.