RESOLUTION A3-0109/93

Resolution on the situation in the Baltic republics

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the motions for resolutions by:

(a)Mr Langer, on the Baltic republics (B3-0262/91),

(b)Mr Habsburg, on the situation in the Baltic states (B3-0016/92),

-having regard to the report by the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Security (A3-0109/93),

A.having regard to the agreement by the CSCE countries to implement the principles and provisions of the Helsinki Final Act and the Paris Charter and the documents concerning the human dimension, in particular those referring to respect for human rights and the consolidation of democracy and the state based on the rule of law,

B.endorsing the desire, frequently reiterated by the Community and its Member States, to support the citizens of Central and Eastern Europe in their endeavours to reconstruct their societies and economics on a democratic basis,

C.whereas respect for human rights and respect for minorities are essential if a state based on the rule of law is to be built on solid foundations; whereas economic development and social justice assist the consolidation of democracy,

D.having regard to its resolution of 12 March 1992 on the death penalty, in which it calls on all the CSCE countries to abolish the death penalty; noting that the three Baltic republics still provide for it on their statute-books;

E.having regard to the need for a legal and financial framework and for an efficient administration which will attract foreign investment and guarantee economic stability and trouble-free institutional functioning,

F.whereas the inherent difficulties inherited from the previous economic system are compounded by the problems arising from totally obsolete productive structures and the inefficiency of the energy sector,

G.having regard to the disappearance of the trading and economic bloc in which the Baltic states were incorporated, and to their total dependence on the former USSR,

H.whereas the adjustment measures required for the necessary economic liberalization are causing major difficulties for the population as a whole,

I.whereas scientific and technological cooperation are vital to ensure the economic revitalization of the three republics and speed up their economic integration into Europe; whereas training in general is of crucial importance for this process,

J.having regard to the serious deterioration of the environment in the region and the need for appropriate technical action and economic aid to deal with the problem on the most suitable basis,

K.whereas one of the obstacles to the economic development of the Baltic states is their energy inefficiency, owing to their inadequate and outdated technical equipment, insufficient technical and administrative skills in the field, and excessive dependence on the former USSR,

L.whereas the continued presence of troops of the former Soviet Union under Russian control in the territory of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania is not compatible with the exercise of full sovereignty by the three countries or with international law, and also constitutes a threat to security in the region as a source of potential conflicts,

M.whereas the presence of these troops is preventing the creation of the climate of political and social trust needed to attract capital investment to the three republics,

N.having regard to the declaration by the CSCE summit of heads of state and government in July 1992 calling on the countries concerned to conclude forthwith bilateral agreements for the swift, orderly and total withdrawal of foreign troops from the territory of the three Baltic states, and welcoming the agreement to this effect already concluded between Lithuania and Russia,

O.having regard to the meeting held in Moscow on 5 January 1993 between representatives of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark and Norway and a delegation from the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation and to the ensuing agreement to set up a joint coordinating body to help deal with the housing problems of the Russian troops still stationed in the Baltic states,

P.having regard to the right of the Baltic states to establish their own legislation on citizenship, permanent residence and immigration, in accordance with international law, the Helsinki Final Act and the International Declaration of Human Rights,

Q.whereas the Baltic authorities should endeavour to include in the process of national recovery the ethnic minorities living within their present borders, in accordance with the undertakings made in the relevant international bodies,

R.recalling the forcible annexation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by the Soviet Union following the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and the policy of settlement and Russification imposed on them under Soviet rule,

S.having regard to the presence on Baltic soil of large numbers of Russian inhabitants due to the policy of settlement pursued by the Soviet Union with a view to the subjugation and Sovietization of the Baltic republics,

SOVIET TROOPS IN THE BALTIC STATES

1.Calls on Russia to do all in its power to accelerate the withdrawal of all troops of the former Soviet Union from the Baltic states, thus respecting the sovereign will of the citizens of those countries;

2.Considers it necessary to point out that, according to the Helsinki Declaration of July 1992, the withdrawal of the Russian troops from the Baltic states is a subject which affects security in Europe as a whole;

3.Considers that the withdrawal of the troops cannot, despite the arguments of the Russian government, be made conditional on social guarantees for the military personnel and their dependents, but calls on the Community and its Member States to do what they can to help the Russian authorities provide adequate shelter for the troops concerned on Russian soil;

4.Supports the participation of CSCE observers in the negotiations between Russia and Estonia and Latvia to establish a timetable for withdrawal of the Russian troops and to monitor adherence to the agreement following its conclusion;

5.Recommends that the Community consider further financial aid to Russia in order to facilitate the resettlement of Russian troops withdrawn from the Baltic states, but that, if the agreements on withdrawal of Russian troops from the Baltic states are not honoured, the Community should consider the possibility of re-examining its financial aid to and economic relations with Russia;

6.Expresses its concern at the decree issued on 29 October 1992 by President Yeltsin suspending the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Baltic states;

7.Welcomes the agreement reached in Moscow on 5 January 1993 to set up a coordinating body to help deal with the housing problems of the Russian troops still in the Baltic states, and hopes practical results will be achieved;

THE EXTERNAL DEBT OF THE BALTIC STATES

8.Shares the view that the Baltic republics are not responsible for the external debt of the former Soviet Union, given that they were forcibly and illegally annexed by the USSR, and that, accordingly, they must not be asked to pay any proportion of that debt;

9.Calls on the governments of the Russian Federation and the three Baltic states to negotiate appropriate agreements on the financial and property questions still outstanding between them, in particular the foreign currency deposits of Baltic citizens, their requests for compensation, etc., in accordance with a clear determination to overcome the past;

THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SITUATION

10.Is aware that the Baltic states are ultimately responsible for their own evolution towards a free society which will guarantee democracy, economic development and social justice, and that it is therefore their task to ensure political stability, promote investment in human resources and create a stable and competitive macroeconomic framework;

11.Notes nonetheless that the three countries lack the economic and technical structures required for the achievement of those objectives and that the present severe economic crisis is holding up the reforms needed for the transformation of their economic and social systems;

12.Considers that trade liberalization and the opening up of the Community's markets to exports from the Baltic republics form a necessary condition for economic progress in the three republics;

13.Encourages the governments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to create a legal and fiscal framework in accordance with international standards so as to guarantee economic stability and improve the wellbeing of the public;

14.Welcomes the formation of a Council of Baltic States with the brief of promoting democracy and economic development in the region and creating closer links with the EC; in particular welcomes its decision to give priority to nuclear safety cooperation programmes;

15.Welcomes the fact that the governments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have revived the Baltic Assembly, and encourages them to implement the recommendations adopted at its first plenary session, in particular those concerning:

-consideration of a possible intergovernmental agreement on mutual cooperation;

-coordination of economic, social and financial legislation;

-a treaty on cooperation in the field of environmental protection;

16.Welcomes the desire expressed by the Presidents of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania to establish the basic principles for the creation of a Baltic common market on the basis of gradual integration into European market structures;

THE POLITICAL SITUATION

17.Recognizes that both the EC and the international community as a whole share a historic responsibility towards the Baltic states and that they must accordingly support the individual efforts of the three republics to construct a state based on the rule of law which will ensure democracy and economic wellbeing for its citizens;

18.Considers it desirable to follow closely political developments and institutional reforms in the Baltic republics, bearing in mind their history, in order to help them to guarantee their independence and democracy and full respect for human and minority rights;

19.Calls on the EC to urge the G24 to follow a coherent and dynamic policy aimed at promoting:

-the consolidation of democracy, and the establishment of a state based on the rule of law;

-respect for human rights and minority rights, with the possibility of appeal to the relevant international bodies;

-economic development via the gradual transformation of the republics' economies into social market economies which take account of the need to preserve the environment;

20.Calls on the governments of the Baltic republics to adopt all necessary measures to ensure the full integration of women into national, social, economic and political life, and insists that the cooperation programmes agreed between the G24 and the three republics pay particular attention to the matter;

21.Calls for the abolition of the death penalty in the three Baltic republics, and the commutation of all pending death sentences and executions;

RELATIONS WITH THE EC AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

22.Considers that the EC should seek to persuade all members of the G-24, on the basis of the available financial instruments, to give priority to tackling the extremely grave environmental problems, especially the discharge of sewage and air pollution, which are grave dangers to public health in the Baltic states and in some cases to neighbouring countries, as well as participation in the GREEN and EAST programmes;

23.Stresses that nuclear safety must be a priority, and calls on the Commission to draw up, as a matter of urgency, an action programme for dealing with nuclear safety matters and, in the case of Lithuania, to provide specific aid for the training of engineers and skilled technicians;

24.Welcomes the steps taken by the Community to promote economic and trade relations with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, especially the cooperation agreements adopted by the Community with each republic, whilst stressing the need to turn these agreements into association agreements as soon as possible;

25.Stresses the need for a Community investment policy in the various production sectors, as well as in research and the environment, with a view to mobilizing capital, lines of credit and joint ventures and ensuring that enterprises are competitively managed; calls on the Commission to study the possibility of implementing accompanying measures to encourage private capital transfers and investment (e.g. underwriting or guarantees);

26.Welcomes the economic and political aid already given to the Baltic states by the Nordic countries, and stresses the importance it attaches to the widest possible Baltic cooperation, including cooperation in the environment;

27.Welcomes the admission of the Baltic republics to the IMF and the World Bank as being crucial to the process of macroeconomic assistance; calls on the IMF to consider releasing supplementary funds to cover the resultant financial obligations;

28.Considers that exchanges of economic and commercial information between the Community and the individual Baltic republics can stimulate economic and trade cooperation and thus make a major contribution to the republics' economic development; considers, accordingly, that the BC-Net and Info-Centre networks must be extended to the three Baltic republics;

29.Calls on the EBRD to aid the privatization of small enterprises and to give careful consideration to the possibility of aiding the restructuring of large enterprises with a view to their privatization as soon as possible;

30.Proposes that the Community, and in particular the EBRD, should encourage public and private investment in communication and telecommunications infrastructures so as to facilitate the integration of the Baltic republics with the rest of Europe;

31.Calls on the Commission to encourage partnership between EC institutions and the Baltic states in the areas of health, culture and education, and calls for the stepping-up of cooperation in the area of professional training and retraining, on the basis of coordination with the European Training Foundation, and for such cooperation to be aimed not exclusively at young people but, rather, primarily at managers and skilled workers;

32.Calls for careful consideration to be given to providing aid for the training of political leaders and senior civil servants, given their vital importance for the existence of working democratic institutions;

HUMAN RIGHTS AND MINORITY RIGHTS

33.Recalls that respect for democratic principles and human rights as defined in the Helsinki Final Act and the Charter of Paris is an essential element in the Community's relations with the Baltic states and its agreements with them;

34.Considers that minority rights fall within the category of universal human rights and must accordingly be fully respected and protected;

35.Calls on the Baltic authorities to adopt whatever measures are necessary to prevent the Russian-speaking inhabitants from being the subject of any discriminatory practices contrary to the principles of international law, to which the Baltic republics subscribe;

36.Considers that members of national minorities are entitled, without discrimination of any kind and on the basis of equality, to enjoy the same rights as other citizens, and that, in addition, their ethnic, religious and linguistic identity should be respected and preserved;

37.Believes also that, in addition to their rights as members of national minorities, such persons must also respect national law and comply loyally with the obligations arising from citizenship of the country where they reside;

38.Reminds the Baltic authorities and the representatives of the Russian, Polish, Belarussian, Ukrainian and other minorities that it is in their common interest to reduce inter-ethnic and social tension through dialogue and respect for the international agreements and declarations which promote and protect human rights;

39.Considers that access to citizenship should be offered to persons who are manifestly willing to become citizens of the country in which they reside and loyally accept the obligations arising from citizenship of that country;

40.Welcomes the fact that both Lithuania and Estonia have already held elections;

41.Deplores the fact that the citizenship law adopted in Estonia has prevented Russian inhabitants who settled in Estonia under Soviet rule from taking part in the elections last January, leaving around 38% of the population without representation in Parliament;

42.Welcomes the debate over citizenship in Latvia, which has resulted in less exclusive proposals coming forward; hopes that the citizenship law which is to be adopted will fully respect the international commitments to which the Latvian government has subscribed in the area of civil, social and economic rights;

43.Notes with satisfaction that elections are to be held in Latvia on 5 and 6 June 1993; calls on the Latvian authorities to guarantee the correct application of the administrative rules and methods envisaged for the registration of the population, so as to prevent any arbitrary action against residents of non-Latvian origin which would lead to them being excluded from the electoral process now under way;

44.Considers that minority rights in the Baltic republics would be greatly strengthened by the adoption by the CSCE of a 'Minorities' Charter' providing for 'watchdog' mechanisms for handling citizens' complaints against the state, which would be binding on all member states;

45.Welcomes the agreement reached by the CSCE at the 1992 Helsinki summit to set up a High Commission for national minorities with a view to preventing possible conflicts, condemns all who call for the expulsion of minorities in the Baltic states, and believes that any government moves towards forcible repatriation should immediately lead to the suspension of all Community aid and assistance;

46.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Heads of Government of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the President of the Russian Federation, the President of Belarus, the President of the Ukraine, the Council of Europe and the governments of the Member States;

47.Instructs its President, furthermore, to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission, and calls on those institutions to inform its competent committee of the action taken on the requests and recommendations contained herein.