Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly

"Le Figaro" newspaper of 11 August 2008 wrote: "Sweden has also advocated a firm line, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Bildt, going so far as to compare Moscow's justifications for intervening in Georgia with the doctrine followed by Adolf Hitler". No denial has been forthcoming.

To ask the Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers,

Whether he still holds this view, and whether he said this in the capacity of Chairman of the Committee of Ministers, expressing the viewpoint of all his colleagues, or of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, expressing the viewpoint of the Swedish Government, or of a private individual.”

Reply by Mr Frank Belfrage, on behalf of the Committee of Ministers:

Regarding the conflict between the Russian Federation and Georgia and within Georgia, Foreign Minister Bildt made three declarations on 9, 11 and 26 September in his capacity as the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers. In addition, on 19 September, a written report was sent to the Foreign Ministers of the member states of the Council of Europe. In his capacity as Chairman, Foreign Minister Bildt also sent his summing-up of the discussions held at the extraordinary informal ministerial meeting in New York on 24 September to the Foreign Ministers of the member states of the Council of Europe.

In his report for the ministerial meeting in New York, the Chairman gave a detailed account of his views on the justifications given by the Russian Federation for its large-scale military actions in Georgia, including the alleged right to protection of citizens in another state. The Chairmanship’s position on this subject was recalled in the address made to the Parliamentary Assembly on 30 September.

The Chairmanship underlines the need to clearly address issues involving the fundamental principles and common values of the Council of Europe.

“Question No. 2 asked by Mr Branger

The report of the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Mr Jean Claude Juncker, presented to our Assembly on 11 April 2006, made a number of recommendations with a view to strengthening the links between the Council of Europe and the European Union.

The calls made on numerous occasions by successive chairmanships of the Council of Europe for dialogue between the two organisations appear to have been acted upon on 28 August with the holding of a meeting in Brussels between the Presidential Committee of our Assembly and the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament.

To ask the Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers,

Since news of this inter-parliamentary initiative is worthy of being brought to the attention of executive authorities in Europe, whether meetings of this kind have already taken place between the Committee of Ministers and the Europe Commission and what initial conclusions, if any, have been reached.”

Reply by Mr Frank Belfrage, on behalf of the Committee of Ministers:

Strengthening political dialogue between the Council of Europe and the European Union is undoubtedly a priority. I welcome the initiatives taken by the Parliamentary Assembly and the European Parliament to that end.

The Committee of Ministers also intends to establish closer links with the institutions of the European Union, as provided for in last year's Memorandum of Agreement. This concerns relations not only with the European Commission but also with the Council of the European Union.

The quadripartite meetings between the two organisations have already been an opportunity to discuss issues of common interest at political level. The next quadripartite meeting, to be held in Strasbourg on 20 October, will be particularly important in view of the geopolitical issues with which the two organisations are currently faced. I am thinking in particular of the situation in Georgia.

As well as these quadripartite meetings, other detailed political exchanges are certainly a possibility and should be encouraged. I refer in particular to the meetings that have now become standard practice between new presidencies of the European Union and chairmanships of the Committee of Ministers, and the discussions that the Committee has had with members of the European Commission.

The Swedish Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers wishes to encourage the development of such exchanges.

The prospects for strengthening political dialogue between the Council of Europe and the European Union will also be on the agenda of the handover of the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers from Sweden to Spain on 27 November. I very much hope that this meeting will help us to identify practical means of strengthening dialogue in the long term.

“Question No. 3 asked by Mr Ivanov

Two years ago, the Parliamentary Assembly adopted Recommendation 1771 (2006) on the establishment of a Stability Pact for the South Caucasus. In its reply of 30 June 2007, the Committee of Ministers rejected that initiative of the Assembly.

In the light of the latest invasion of Russian forces in Georgia and the considerable worsening of the situation;

To ask the Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers,

Whether the Committee of Ministers considered reviewing its position to set up a Stability Pact for the South Caucasus as the question involves a number of member states of the Council of Europe – Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, etc.?”

Reply by Mr Frank Belfrage, on behalf of the Committee of Ministers:

The Committee of Ministers is particularly attentive to the situation in the South Caucasus. The substantial assistance activities carried out by the Organisation for the benefit of the countries of the region clearly demonstrate that it is a priority geographical area of attention.

When replying to your Assembly’s recommendation last year, the Committee did not reject as such the idea of establishing a Stability Pact for the South Caucasus. It only underlined that at that time, such an idea had not gained sufficient, active and unreserved support from all the parties concerned, as they were not ready to involve themselves in such a project.

Obviously, the situation has dramatically changed since then. The countries in the South Caucasus region may now have a greater interest in developing regional co-operation through such an initiative.

It is for them to indicate whether or not they consider that the idea of a Stability Pact is worth pursuing, having regard also to the recent proposal by the Turkish authorities to establish such a Pact for the whole Caucasus.

Should this be the case, the Committee of Ministers will be willing to examine any request for assistance within the area of competence of the Organisation.

“Question No. 4 asked by Mrs Jonker

To ask the Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers,

What is the latest information on progress made by Georgia in relation to its commitments on the return of formerly deported people, in particular Meskhetians, to Georgia and what are the measures contemplated by the Council of Europe to assist Georgia in meeting its commitments?

In the light of recent events, how can the Council of Europe promote an extension of the deadline for applications for return, which is scheduled to expire by the end of this year?”

Reply by Mr Frank Belfrage, on behalf of the Committee of Ministers:

Opinion 209 (1999) of the Parliamentary Assembly on Georgia’s application for membership of the Council of Europe requested the Georgian authorities “to adopt, within two years after accession, a legal framework permitting repatriation and integration, including the right to Georgian nationality,[….] to begin the process of repatriation and integration within three years after its accession and complete the process of repatriation of the Meskhetian population within twelve years after its accession”.

The Law on the repatriation which was adopted in 2007 has been in force since 1 January 2008. This means that the first part of the commitment undertaken when joining the Council of Europe is fulfilled, although with a delay of six years. However, the second part of the commitment (repatriation started in 2002 and to be completed by 2011) is not yet completed and there remain only three years in which to respect the deadline fixed by the Assembly.

We understand that as the first stage of the implementation of the Law, the Georgian consular services in the countries where Meshketian population lives have received the application forms. The deadline for collecting the applications is set by the Law for 31 December 2008.

There are still a number of outstanding issues which could create difficulties for the proper implementation of the Law, i.e.:

- The availability of the application forms in languages other than Georgian, as the populations concerned have never lived in Georgia and do not necessarily have a command of the Georgian language. In order to assist the Georgian authorities to fulfil their commitment, the Council of Europe is participating in a joint effort with the International Organisation for Migration aimed at an information and awareness-raising campaign to support Meskhetian potential applicants seeking the status of repatriate. In the framework of this project, assistance is provided in translating the application forms.

- A second concern is precisely the time-frame to apply for the return to Georgia. According to the Law, applications should be submitted to the Georgian authorities before the end of the year 2008, which leaves a rather tight schedule for properly informing the population concerned and to introduce their application. The available time-frame was further reduced by the political events in Georgia and the presidential and parliamentary elections which took place earlier this year. Due to these political circumstances, the Council of Europe is encouraging the Georgian authorities to consider the possibility of extending the deadline for applying.