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CHECHNYA: Does Sweden believe that Akhmadov does not have the normal right to family reunion? Strasbourg, 31 March 2004. Last September the Swedish Consul in Washington assured Mr Ilyas Akhmadov, Foreign Minister in the government of President Maskhadov and the author of the Peace Plan for the establishment of an interim UN administration in Chechnya, that the competent Swedish authorities would rule on his application for family reunion within three or four months. A few weeks earlier Mr Akhmadov's wife and three children had moved to Sweden after being granted political asylum. In January 2004 the Swedish consular authorities in the United States told Mr Akhmadov that despite their previous assurances he would not receive a response to his application before June or July. Mr Akhmadov has now been in the United States, without resident status, for over two years. Since his passport has expired, he is effectively blocked in the United States. This situation clearly does not facilitate his political and diplomatic efforts in the search for a political solution to the Russo-Chechen tragedy. The situation also has serious repercussions for his family, since he has not seen his wife and his two oldest children for more than two years, and has never seen his youngest child. Question by Olivier Dupuis, Member of the European Parliament, Radical, to the Council: Is the Council aware of the situation of Mr Ilyas Akhmadov, Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of President Maskhadov? Is the Council aware of the steps taken by Mr Akhmadov to be able to benefit from the normal measures of family reunion in a member country of the Union? What, in the opinion of the Council, are the reasons for Sweden's reluctance to allow Mr Akhmadov to benefit from the measures of family reunion? Since the Union states repeatedly that only a political solution can bring an end to the Russo-Chechen tragedy, does the Council not agree that the restrictions, or even the obstructionist measures suffered by Mr Akhmadov, the head of Chechen diplomacy, do not in any way favour the search for a solution of this kind? www.radicalparty.org ===== |