The European Parliament resolution
28.12.09
Human rights - one of the most important topic to discuss on the EU - Russia Summit
One of the key issus was a problem of human rights. EP expressed its serious concerns "about developments in Russia with regard to democracy, human rights, the independence of the judiciary, increased state control of the media, the inability of the police and judicial authorities to ind those responsible for the murders of journalists and human rights defenders, the repressive measures taken against the opposition, the selective application of the law by the authorities and the fairness of elections, including the regional and local elections held on 11 October 2009;".
Eeuropean Parliament also decided that it is essential during upcoming summit to "underline the importance of continuous exchanges of views on human rights with Russia as part of the EU-Russia Human Rights Consultations, with a focus on the steps taken by the Russian authorities with the aim of ensuring the safety of human rights defenders and media freedom, and calls for an improvement in the format of these meetings in order to enhance their effectiveness, with special attention being paid to joint action against racism and xenophobia, and for this process to be opened up to effective input from the European Parliament, the Duma and human rights NGOs, whether the dialogue takes place in Russia or in an EU Member State; insists that the safeguarding of human rights should be a key item on the agenda for the EU-Russia Summit and an integral part of the new EU-Russia cooperation agreement; reiterates its call to ensure that the murderers of Natalia Estemirova, Andrei Kulagin, Zarema Sadulayeva, Alik Dzhabrailov, Maksharip Aushev, Stanislav Markelov, Anastasiya Baburova and Anna Politkovskaya
are found and brought to justice".
In resolution European Parliament also highlights the importance of establishing an early-warning mechanism with Russia on energy security covering notification, consultation and implementation. The Members of European Parliament expressed their support for Russia join the WTO.
Sources:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/focus_page/008-63974-327-11-48-901-20091106FCS63916-23-11-2009-2009/default_p001c003_en.htm
text of the resolution
