Riportiamo il testo dell’intervento di Catherine Ashton dinanzi al parlamento europeo dell’11 settembre 2012
Catherine Ashton, Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. − Mr President, during the last exchange we had in this House in February on the conduct of the Duma and presidential elections in Russia, we shared our concerns about the irregularities and violations of the electoral process and about the violence against demonstrators and their detention.
At the same time, we welcomed the political awakening of Russian civil society. We saw Russian civil society ready to engage in dialogue with the government and to play an active role in the development of political institutions in the country. We saw some signs of cautious but real dialogue between government and citizens emerging.
We had been encouraging the then newly-elected President Putin to pursue the political and economic reforms that were started by President Medvedev. We also offered our support in working on our shared modernisation agenda.
There have been some important developments in that respect. First and foremost, let me mention Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organisation on 22 August. By joining the WTO, Russia took a major step forward in its ongoing integration into the international rules-based trade system. We strongly supported that process and now expect Russia to fully implement all the related agreements, so as to reap the maximum benefit of membership of the World Trade Organisation.
There had been some encouraging initial steps in the spring towards further development of Russia’s democratic institutions, notably the easing of party registration rules and requirements for presidential candidates, as well as direct elections of regional governors. However, these have been the only positive political reforms this year so far. To allow for a truly pluralistic parliamentary system, without undue obstacles to the work of a viable opposition, much more needs to be done.
Upon President Putin’s return to the Kremlin, we encouraged him to engage in a constructive dialogue with citizens and civil society to find the best way forward and ensure a good future for Russia. Since May, however, we have been seeing less and less dialogue and openness on the side of the authorities, and rather more intolerance of any expression of dissenting views. Instead of stronger safeguards for the exercise of fundamental rights and freedoms, we have seen a string of measures that chip away at them.
At least four major pieces of new legislation went through the Duma at unusual – some would say unconstitutional – speed, before the summer recess. Their common aim seems to have been to further reduce the available space for independent civil and political activity in the country.
Immediately after the inauguration of the new President on 7 May, a number of opposition leaders and activists who organised and participated in the 6 May demonstrations were arrested and fined. Many face serious criminal charges. Soon after, on 8 June, President Putin signed into law restrictive amendments effectively limiting the scope for demonstrations.
I reacted to these developments with a public statement. I stressed that the government should, including via legislation, guarantee freedom of assembly for citizens. I also cautioned that strong measures to curtail this right were likely to prove counterproductive.
A few weeks later another law was passed forcing Russian NGOs receiving foreign funding to present themselves as ‘foreign agents’ in all their activities. Given the history of such a term, foreign funding is thus considered by law to turn its recipients into ‘spies’.
I reiterated my serious concerns over these developments as well as the overall worsening situation for civil society in Russia. Grassroots civil society movements, be it human rights NGOs or election monitoring organisations such as Golos, are important components of democratic society. They do an essential job in Russia today and they are key to Russia’s modernisation. In the interests of Russia, they should be allowed to work freely and have the means to do it.
We have supported some NGOs in their activities and will continue to offer our support to their contribution to the modernisation of Russia. We do so because the European Union has a strong interest in a stable, prosperous and democratic Russia. We have been offering our support to those in Russia who share this goal. But by doing it, we neither impose our objectives on these Russian organisations, nor do we aim in any way to control their activities. In no way do these Russian organisations become our, or anybody else’s, agents; let me state this very clearly. All Russian NGOs I know would undoubtedly prefer to receive Russian funding, but there is barely any public funding available for activities that could potentially be perceived as being critical of the authorities, nor do many businessmen dare to offer support.
I will not go into the details now of the laws on libel and internet freedom. The key issue is how they will be interpreted and applied. We will pay attention to that.
As honourable Members know, most recently, on 17 August, three young women, members of the punk band ‘Pussy Riot’, were sentenced to two years in prison each for a peaceful, less-than-one-minute long performance. We all understand that this provocative stunt in the Christ-the-Saviour cathedral hurt religious feelings. But it was a non-violent expression of political opinion. Under Russian law, it should have been sanctioned as a minor offence, not as a serious crime. On the same day, I issued a statement to express my deep disappointment with the disproportionate sentence and recalled Russia’s commitments to respect its obligations to ensure fair, transparent and independent legal process. Serious irregularities in the trial have been reported, including the conditions of pre-trial detention.
Taken together, the package of legislation limiting the freedom of assembly, restricting NGOs, curtailing the freedom of the internet, the Pussy Riot case, an upsurge in prosecution of activists, including Alexey Navalny, and the sentencing of Mrs Osipova, the dismissal of an opposition-minded Duma deputy and a continued lack of progress on the Magnitsky case, constitute a trend of great concern to us.
This trend raises serious questions on the state of the rule of law and, in particular, the use of legal and law enforcement structures and other instruments for political purposes, which should be used to safeguard and protect the rights and freedoms of the citizens of Russia.
In conclusion, I would like to stress again the importance of having an economically successful, modern, and democratic Russia at the border of the European Union. Russia is sometimes a challenging neighbour, but it remains an important partner of the European Union on many issues and in many fields.
We remain ready to work with Russia in all the positive reform efforts, to work closely together on the Partnership for Modernisation, the integration of the international rules-based system, and the development of citizens’ rights and freedoms: that has to be the basis for stability and prosperity. We will continue to work closely with the government and ministries on these goals but we should not shy away from our responsibilities as a partner to express our concerns with recent developments. We worry that the government sets the country on the wrong path and wastes an opportunity for effective modernisation.
I would like to thank the European Parliament for working continuously and consistently with me and the EEAS services on both these strands. Let me take my opportunity to express my gratitude to Parliament, in particular, for your strong support for civil society cooperation between the EU and Russia, including of course in financial terms.
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