On June 26 YABLOKO held a meeting with the delegation of the
European Liberals, Democrats and Reformers party (ELDR) –
Mrs. Annemie Neyts, ELDR President, Mrs.Kristiina Ojuland,
MEP, Mr. Michael Jensen, member of Danish parliament and Mr.Robert
Plummer, ELDR Political Advisor.
Opening the meeting YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin proposed
to discuss the prospects of further cooperation between ELDR
and ELDR full member the YABLOKO party.
Member of YABLOKO’s Political Committee Grigory Yavlinsky
said that the EU has not yet developed a single strategy for
cooperation with Russia, therefore development of such a strategy
can become a task of ELDR and its faction in the European
Parliament. And YABLOKO can help in development of such a
strategy. "The absence of a well-developed European strategy
as regards integration with Russia is one of the key obstacles
in development of relations between Russia and Europe. YABLOKO’s
proposals and some provisions of our party programme could
form the basis for such a strategy," Yavlinsky said.
YABLOKO’s leaders also dwelled upon some aspects of such
a strategy. Thus, Sergei Mitrokhin proposed to European liberals
to more actively support YABLOKO’s initiative on abolishing
visas between the EU and Russia. He called the visa regime
"a rudiment of the Iron Curtain preventing assimilation
of the European standards by the Russian citizens".
Alexei Arbatov, head of the International Security Centre
of the Russian Academy of Sciences and member of YABLOKO’s
Political Committee, spoke about YABLOKO’s initiative of creating
a joint missile defense system for Russia, the US and NATO.
"Efficient cooperation between the U.S. / NATO and Russia
in creation of a joint ABM system requires from the West to
resolve Russia’s concerns about safety resulting from NATO’s
policies. And Russia should clearly determine its position
in the world as a European state and a participant of the
Euro-Atlantic security system ", Arbatov stated.
Member of YABLOKO’s Bureau Alexander Shishlov spoke about
raising the role of the Council of Europe. Introduction of
direct elections to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe by the nations of its member countries could also
increase the impact of the Council of Europe in Russia, Shishlov
said. Sergei Mitrokhin added that such elections should take
place under the direct control of the Council of Europe so
that to avoid fraud as had been taking place in Russia.
Renown human rights activist and member of YABLOKO’s Political
Committee Sergei Kovalyov drew attention to the "double
standards" often applied by Western politicians and leaders
and discrediting the very notion of "the European values".
In particular, he drew attention to extremely soft assessment
given by Western countries to the Second Chechen campaign.
Similarly, these double standards do not allow to the West
to give a clear assessment to Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev’s
policies, Kovalyov said.
The leader of the Green Russia faction of the YABLOKO party
Acad. Alexei Yablokov spoke about the approaching 25th anniversary
of the Chernobyl disaster which affected not only Belarus,
Ukraine and Russia, but many countries of the European Union.
In view of this he proposed to conduct an international conference
on the consequences of the disaster.
Head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) and member
of YABLOKO’s Political Committee Igor Artemyev told about
the main results of the work of YABLOKO’s representatives
in this field. He also recalled that Russian Anti-Monopoly
Service was ranked 19th in the world. Artemyev added that
the founder of the Russian anti-monopoly regulator was Grigory
Yavlinsky, who 20 years ago signed a decree establishing the
service in 1990. "All the key posts in the service are
taken by YABLOKO’s people. This was the main condition we
had set forth for our participation in the Russian Government",
Igor Artemyev added.
The leader of YABLOKO’s Gender faction Galina Mikhalyova
spoke about women's problems in Russia. According to Mikhalyova,
Russia had been facing profound gender discrimination. Mikhalyova
urged European liberals to cooperate with Russia in solving
these problems.
Mrs. Annemie Neyts and Mrs. Kristiina Ojuland agreed that
the EU had not developed any strategy towards Russia. They
stated that the ELDR should support YABLOKO’s initiatives,
in particular in the field of introduction of a visa-free
regime between the Russia and EU. However, Mrs. Neyts and
Mrs.Ojuland also indicated that this initiative required certain
actions from the Russian authorities, in particular in abolishing
compulsory registration of foreigners in Russia.
The parties agreed to further strengthen their cooperation
within the ELDR and develop some joint projects.
See also:
YABLOKO
Sister-Parties
Russia-EU
Relations
The Youth branch of
YABLOKO calls to introduce a visa-free regime between Russia
and EU during its action by EU representation in Moscow. Press
Release, April 5, 2010.
European liberals to
discuss a visa-free regime between Russia and the EU. Press
Release
March 11, 2010
On Eliminaiton
of Visa Barriers Between Russia and EU. Statement by YABLOKO's
Chairman. February 1, 2010
European liberals
welcome Russia to the European Union. Press Release. February
3, 2010.
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