A3-0036/94

Resolution on Kaliningrad (Königsberg), a Russian exclave in the Baltic region: situation and outlook from a European viewpoint

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the motion for a resolution tabled by Mr Poettering and others on the situation in the Kaliningrad region (B3-0013/92),

-having regard to the Commission communication to the Council on the Community's relations with the independent states of the former Soviet Union (SEC(92)0373),

-having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Security (A3-0036/94),

A.whereas as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent restoration of sovereignty to the Baltic States and Belorussia, the Kaliningrad region (Oblast) has, in geographical terms, been isolated from Russia, the state under whose jurisdiction it falls in every other respect,

B.whereas the exclave status of the Kaliningrad region constitutes a situation that warrants special treatment in the context of the European Union's external relations and its cooperation with Russia,

C.whereas failure to act and rigid adherence to the economic and political status quo in the region could have the effect of destabilizing the Baltic States and all the countries bordering the Baltic Sea,

D.whereas assistance from the European Union in the economic sphere and in connection with know-how could do much to avert a potentially explosive geopolitical situation,

E.whereas, precisely because of its associations with Europe, Kaliningrad is of great political and economic importance to Russia,

F.whereas Kaliningrad will scarcely be able to survive in the long term unless it receives external support (from Russia and/or Western countries),

G.whereas a disproportionately high number of Russian military personnel and their families are currently living in the Kaliningrad region,

H.disturbed at the economic decline of Kaliningrad brought about by cuts in central government subsidies, the ever-widening gap between revenue and minimum expenditure, and the dearth of foreign investment,

1.Takes the view that the future of the Kaliningrad region is a matter of direct and pressing concern for Russia, the countries bordering the region, and the European Union;

2.Is convinced that an inability to take immediate action will inevitably lead to a further alarming decline in the region's economy, which might in turn entail serious adverse consequences for social and political stability in the Baltic States and all the countries bordering the Baltic Sea;

3.Supports the moves by the Russian President and the regional administrative leadership to revitalize the region's economy;

4.Points out, however, that the 'free economic area' status being proposed for the region as a whole is impossible to put into effect in its present form because the necessary implementing provisions have not been laid down and there is no clear-cut framework within which to operate (certainty as to the law, investment protection, clear tax guidelines, efficient bureaucracy);

5.Is of the opinion that immediate action is essential in order genuinely to open up the region to investment, to retrain military personnel and to scale down the Russian military presence to 'reasonable' proportions;

6.Is convinced that the European Union should take action to alleviate the region's current and medium-term economic difficulties and encompass the region more fully within European economic cooperation processes;

7.Recommends that Kaliningrad, the Baltic States and Poland should intensify their three-cornered cooperation and that the Council of Baltic States should play an active role in helping them to do so;

8.Recommends that, following the model of Western European practice, Kaliningrad, Lithuania and Poland should establish cooperation in the immediate vicinity of their common borders, not least with a view to tackling ecological problems by which they are all affected;

9.Recommends that the Kaliningrad region should be incorporated to a greater extent into European transport and telecommunications systems and that procedures at each of the various frontiers should be modelled on and brought into line with EU standards; considers that this could be brought about most effectively by, among other things, building a 'Hansa motorway' running from Hamburg via Gdansk (Danzig) and Kaliningrad (Königsberg) as far as Riga and St Petersburg and by setting up modern and efficient checkpoints on the border with Poland;

10.Recommends that investment be channelled into the provision of basic tourist facilities with the aim of promoting tourism;

11.Believes that Europe-oriented institutes - such as a faculty of European studies at the University of Kaliningrad - should be set up to impart expertise in the areas of management, economic sciences and international law and, more generally, to foster human and cultural contacts;

12.Calls on the Council and Commission, when conducting the current negotiations on a partnership agreement with Russia, to make provision for a special clause on trade and cooperation with Kaliningrad and to supplement the agreement with a protocol laying down detailed arrangements for such cooperation;

13.Is of the opinion that the Russian Government should grant wider-ranging rights to the region by according Kaliningrad a status that would empower it to negotiate independently with the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Community and other bodies;

14.Considers that the Kaliningrad region must be prevented from becoming a 'Baltic backyard', but rather should develop into a solid bridge linking Western Europe, Belorussia, Russia and the three Baltic States into a kind of 'Euro-region';

15.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the parliaments of the Member States, and the Government and Parliament of the Russian Federation.