TRANSCRIPT OF REMARKS BY MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION SERGEY LAVROV AT PRESS CONFERENCE FOLLOWING TALKS WITH BERNARD BOT, THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE NETHERLANDS, JEAN ASSELBORN, THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF LUXEMBOURG, CHRISTOPHER PATTEN, MEMBER OF THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, AND JAVIER SOLANA, SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE EU'S COMMON FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY, THE HAGUE, OCTOBER 19, 2004

Unofficial translation from Russian

PRESS RELEASE

Foreign Minister Lavrov: I would like to thank my counterpart, Bernard Bot, for the very good welcome, hospitality and the fruitful discussion we held. We would like that our strategic partnership with the European Union on all the issues he mentioned would develop along an ascending line, and that concrete matters would be dealt with on the basis of the common understanding of each of all the four spaces agreed on during the previous Russia-EU summit in Moscow on May 21, this year. Our approach to these tasks, to drawing up the roadmaps consists in that there should be undertaken specific agreements in specific areas of cooperation, with specific dates and executing agencies from each side. The main thing is that this should bring us to a partnership based on an equal and mutually respectful definition of the areas of cooperation, be it in the economy, in the field of domestic or external security or in the humanitarian field, which reflect the joint interests of Russia and the European Union, and the jointly devised actions of the two sides in answering the questions that arise in each of these areas.

I am also satisfied with the very substantive and businesslike discussion that was held on international affairs. The situation in the Middle East, in Iran, in Iraq, in the Balkans, including Kosovo, and in Cyprus was discussed, and the task of preparing for the OSCE Ministerial Meeting at the beginning of December in Sofia. All this was considered most specifically. On most issues, our approaches are close or coincide. We agreed on joint or parallel steps on many of these topics with a view to achieving conflict resolution. In the case of the OSCE Ministerial Meeting, we agreed to arrive at decisions which could raise the efficiency of this Organization in all three dimensions of its functioning, for cooperation, towards the aim of which it was created. It is security, humanitarian matters, including human rights, and economic cooperation.

I am pleased with our talks, and as Mr. Bot said, we agreed to exert utmost efforts in the next few weeks to prepare a productive holding of the Russia-EU summit, scheduled for November 11.

Question: Are you satisfied with the European Union's answer to the question raised by Russia concerning freight transit to Kaliningrad through the territory of Lithuania? What problems exist in this regard? Does Russia have any interest in postponing the shutdown of Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant in Lithuania?

Foreign Minister Lavrov: This last question has a bilateral character and is being discussed within the framework of our relations with Lithuania. It is in this context that it should be raised.

As far as freight transit to Kaliningrad is concerned, this question was discussed today. We received assurances that the questions raised in our document, which had been handed over to Mr. Bot during his trip to Moscow this past July, are being considered. There are expectations that specific movements forward will be on some of them. These are very important questions. They involve a normal functioning of the Kaliningrad Region of the Russian Federation and a possibility to deal with the accumulated social and economic problems. We explained to our colleagues the concern the Russian side still has. I hope that it was heard, and these problems will be tackled in the European Union-Lithuania-Russia triangle. In my opinion, this is the sole correct solution, considering the understanding that was reached in Moscow on May 21 at the Russia-European Union summit on the necessity to conclude an agreement on freight transit to Kaliningrad.

Our concerns are very simple. We want that the regime for the delivery of cargo to Kaliningrad from the rest of Russia would be no worse than it was up until now, and preferably more simplified. So far, however, the necessity of fulfilling the new formalities introduced after Lithuania's accession to the European Union results in a 50 percent increase in the cost of the various customs procedures, a cost increase by a third for the procedures involving sanitary control and many other things. We show by specific facts that the situation has worsened after the European Union enlargement, and that we are interested in finding solutions on the basis of the conclusion of an appropriate agreement, which should be worked out with the participation of Lithuania, Russia and the European Union.

Question: Was the problem of combating terrorism discussed in the course of the talks? What forms of cooperation can Russia expect?

Foreign Minister Lavrov: The problem of combating terrorism was discussed as one of the priority tasks of our cooperation. Apart from the presence of this topic in the dialogue with practically each European Union country and more effective use of bilateral channels which exist for tackling the specific problems that arise in this connection, we again expressed our interest in bilateral forms of the cooperative effort. This concerns both cooperation with the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee and the necessity to increase the OSCE's attention to these questions. I can say that we understand that the OSCE Ministerial Meeting in Sofia at the beginning of December is bound to speak in favor of more specific projects within the framework of the Organization, that would make life more difficult for terrorists and those who are their accomplices. There are a number of suggestions and ideas, initiated not only by Russia and the European Union, but also by individual countries, including the US, France and Bulgaria, which are aimed at increasing the security of our entire common OSCE space against the threats which terrorists pose. Also we agreed with the necessity to coordinate our efforts with a view to the speediest approval by the UN of the Draft Convention on the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, which was introduced by the Russian Federation and is now being considered at the General Assembly of the United Nations.

We also agreed to cooperate on Security Council resolution 1566, adopted at Russia's initiative, which calls for greater effectiveness in the implementation by the UN member countries as well as by regional structures of the decisions taken by the world community to put an end to terrorism and ensure the inevitability of punishment for participation in acts of terror and for complicity in them.

Question: Was the question of minorities in Latvia raised at the talks? What actions to protect the minorities do you expect from the European Union?

Foreign Minister Lavrov: We expect from the European Union nothing more than what is written down in the Joint Statement of April 27, 2004, that was adopted at the meeting of the ministers of Russia and the European Union and which presupposes that the problem of the rights of the national minorities needs to be given proper attention. In actual terms the point is that Latvia and Estonia should fulfill the recommendations that have been addressed to them by the OSCE, by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and by European structures.

It is important that the Convention for the Protection of National Minorities should be ratified, as Lithuania did. The visit to Latvia of the OSCE rapporteur on national minorities, Rolf Ekeus, can serve as an example. He reaffirmed the recommendations for accelerating the process of the naturalization of nontitular citizens in Latvia and the necessity to so do that both citizens and those who are not yet such have the possibility to participate in municipal elections.

There also exist a number of recommendations that were previously adopted by Rolf Ekeus and Alvaro Gil-Robles. Russia presumes that these recommendations ought to be fulfilled. We aren't in fact demanding anything supernatural, which would transcend the bounds of the universally accepted standards of attitude towards people.

In addition to the answer of my counterpart I would like to add that I support what Mr. Bot said and I hope that you understand that in the contemporary world there is no complete unanimity, nor can there be. At any period of mankind countries have their own interests, which may not coincide in this or that aspect. But that we are partners with the European Union in strategic terms leaves no doubt whatsoever. As our relations with the European Union advance, just as they do with any other organization or state, there always will remain questions needing to be dealt with. This may be called a difference of opinion or a necessity to achieve common agreement, but it is inevitable and this should not be dramatized. I agree with how Mr. Bot described it. The main thing is that the strategic thrust of our movement coincides.

I shall also add a few words on the topic of minority rights. We know that there are the Copenhagen Criteria and know the position of the European Union and how it assesses its members in accordance with these criteria. But there are also the recommendations of the OSCE and the Council of Europe. All the countries of the European Union are members of these organizations and, probably, have commitments to fulfill the recommendations which are adopted there. For all my respect for the Copenhagen Criteria, and not wishing to bring a split in the ranks of the Nordic countries, I shall also mention the existence of the informal Helsinki Criteria. There live only six percent of all Swedes in Finland, but despite this the Swedish language is a state language on a par with Finnish there. This is an example for emulation by the countries where a minority constitutes 30-40 and more percent of the population.

Question: In your article, Mr. Bot, it was mentioned that the struggle against terrorism should not be waged with the violation of human rights. Does the Russian side share your concern about that?

Foreign Minister Lavrov (in addition to Bernard Bot's answer): I read the article of Mr. Bot, which was published in many newspapers, including papers in Russia. I cannot agree that the chief meaning of this article comes down to the question which you asked. The article is aimed at ensuring that the fight against terrorism is continued resolutely, and even by more effective methods. Simultaneously, this article calls for paying attention to the observance of human rights in the course of this struggle, with which we fully agree. Russia is taking the necessary measures to ensure that this is so. On the other hand, I cannot fail to note the problem connected with the fact that at times there exists the temptation to fall into another extreme, when people on the wanted list as suspects of involvement in the organization and encouragement of terrorist acts appear on the screens, are being invited to conferences in Europe, where they preach their views, which consist in that, and I quote, "so long as the present policy of the Russian leadership continues, large-scale terrorist acts are inevitable." And as they do so, they disavow being involved in the organization of specific terrorist acts. But if what they're saying from the screens and the press at various conferences is not an encouragement of terrorism, then, probably, I understand nothing in this life. Therefore, while protecting human rights in regard to honest innocent civilians, there should be no allowing those to wander freely about Europe who are, as a minimum, being strongly suspected of complicity in the organization and sponsoring of terrorist activities.