B4-0500, 0514, 0516, 0528, 0539, 0547 and 0559/94

Resolution on the situation in Chechenia

The European Parliament,

A.having regard to the Russian armed intervention in Chechenia,

B.whereas Chechenia is one of the republics of the Russian Federation and whereas this conflict within the Federation's borders could spread to other neighbouring republics;

C.welcoming the protest by Russian democrats against the armed intervention by their country's armed forces against Chechenia and calling on them to continue to stand up for peace, freedom and democracy,

D.having regard to the risk that this conflict will spill over into other parts of the Caucasus,

E.whereas President Boris Yeltsin has declared that he wishes to 'find a political solution' to the problem, but whereas negotiations have so far not achieved this aim,

F.recalling this Republic's unilateral declaration of independence from the Russian Federation, proclaimed in 1991,

1.Calls on all the parties concerned to make every effort to reach a peaceful solution to the problem;

2.Points out that Chechenia is one of the 89 constituents of the Russian Federation and that the conflict there is the first within the Federation's borders;

3.Recalls that, at the CSCE summit in Budapest, President Yeltsin signed, on behalf of Russia, a code of conduct on the political and military aspects of security and undertook not to use his army against minorities;

4.Calls on the Council Presidency to contribute, in the context of the OSCE, to finding a political solution to the problem;

5.Urges the parties concerned to implement the Ordshonikidzevskaya Protocol, signed in Ingushetia on 6 December 1994 by the Russian Defence Minister, Pavel Grachev, and the Chechen President, General Dzhokhar Dudaev, a protocol which sought to settle the dispute between Moscow and Grozny peacefully and provided in particular for the release of soldiers taken prisoner and the withdrawal of the Russian military forces;

6.Calls on the Russian federal government and the Chechen President, having regard to the democratic principles enshrined in the Russian constitution, to initiate moves towards a stable democracy by safeguarding human rights, the rights of minorities and the rights of indigenous peoples and by recognizing opposition movements where these are democratically based;

7.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of the Member States, the governments of Austria, Finland and Sweden, the President of the Russian Federation and the authorities in Chechenia and the Secretariats of the OSCE and the United Nations.