Simon Coveney
Ceist:160 Mr. Coveney asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the consideration the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council has given to the situation in Chechnya. [6546/03]
Vol. 562 No. 5
160 Mr. Coveney asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the consideration the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council has given to the situation in Chechnya. [6546/03]
The General Affairs and External Relations Council considers overall EU relations with the Russian Federation, including the situation in the Republic of Chechnya, on a regular basis.
As I stated in reply to a Parliamentary Question on 27 November 2002, Ireland, together with our partners in the European Union, supports continued dialogue with the Russian Federation on a range of human rights issues, including Chechnya. At the last EU-Russia Summit on 11 November 2002 the Danish Presidency, led by Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, raised our concerns about human rights in Chechnya with President Putin and re-iterated the EU's belief that there must be a political solution to the conflict there.
EU relations with Russia were discussed at the GAERC meeting on 24-25 February and will be discussed again at the meeting on 18-19 March. These discussions are particularly important in the light of the upcoming EU-Russia summit scheduled for 30-31 May in St. Petersburg. At the GAERC meeting in February I indicated that the agenda for the St. Petersburg summit, which this time will be attended by heads of state or Government of all EU member states, should be broad enough to encompass dialogue with Russia on all important issues including the situation in Chechnya.