| Ttranscript of
Berlusconi's defense of Putin's policy in Chechnya (My tr.)
(Video file: http://audio-5.radioradicale.it/ramgen/s7.2/uni_punzi_0_20031106172540.rm?start="00:42:09"&end="00:48:14")
[Journalist of
Le Monde]: "Mr. President, with the arrest of Khodorkowsky, as you know,
Europeans are worried about the return of an authoritarian regime in
Russia. As you know, in Chechnya there have been violations of human
rights. Mr. President, don't you think that the EU and Russia have a
very different view of the rule of law?"
[It was perhaps
not entirely clear who of the two presidents the Le Monde journalist
addressed. Putin was going to answer, but Berlusconi stops him and intervenes
in his place. Berlusconi underlines the situation of the Italian press
which is "hostile to the actual [Italian] government" and responsible
of distortions and falsifications. This he compares with the hostility
of the international press with regards to the Yukos case and the conflict
in Chechnya. On the first case, which transcript I skip, he says that
he knows "for sure that there is a will in the RF of transparency, of
correctness, of a fight against corruption...". He knows Putin enough
to say also for sure that he can guarantee that Putin has "a clear distinction
between the separation between the executive power and between the judiciary
power". Whereas, in his opinion, the international press is responsible
of coming out with the "hypotheses" that the Yukos case was an intervention
against the rule of law. With this in mind he goes on with the comparison
on Chechnya].
[Berlusconi]: "The
same thing.... [touching Putin's arm and joking he interrupts shortly
with a somewhat confused sentence] ...I ask the Russian President to
excuse me... next I will send him a fee as a not requested attorney,
of one Euro... not requested....[and goes on]... but also from the information
we have directly through our [secret?] services on the situation in
Chechnya.... In Chechnya there has been a terrorist activity that produced
many attacks, also on Russian citizens. There has never been a correspondent
response from side of the RF, which suffered these attacks without any
reaction. A referendum was proclaimed, where not 10, 20 or 30 per cent
of the population participated, but 80 percent of the population. And
80 per cent of the voters decided democratically to make part of the
RF.
An therefore I
don't see how still this false opinion can continuously follow itself,
of a lack of will by a country which sees in democracy its present and
its future, with regards to the little republic of the area of the Soviet
influence, to which has been given the possibility with elections, that
have been judged, by those who made the observers of the electoral reality,
as elections that developed democratically. And eventually, if we would
have had some doubts, we, of the EU, could send inspectors. A thing
that the EU did not feel to do.
Therefore I, really,
as friend of the RF and friend and personal cherisher of President Putin
say: don't let us continue to spread out these legends. Lets look at
the reality of facts, because it is on the reality of facts that correct
opinions must be constructed.
[To Putin...] I
ask you to excuse me. I will send you the fee.
[Of the following
transcript I can't guarantee the precise translation: it was already
translated from Russian]
[Putin]: I'm ready
to pay. It's worth it. I must say that for the first time we have a
so skilled attorney and I must tell you that in the course of our talks,
one of the persons that made us uncomfortable questions on Chechnya,
asked us and expressed doubts on our policy... there has been also pressure
from people... well... this person was just the prime minister of Italy,
Mr. Berlusconi.
[Putin goes on
talking about his politics in Chechnya, the usual propaganda which list
members already know.]
-------------------------------------------------
Comment:..... this
was the last straw.... :(
-------------------------------------------------
EU disagrees
with Berlusconi remarks on Yukos, Chechnya
BRUSSELS (AFP)
- The European Commission said it does not agree with Italian Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi on the issues of Yukos or Chechnya, after
controversial comments at an EU-Russia summit.
The EU executive,
reiterating notably its concern over the Yukos affair and its implications
for foreign investment, also suggested Friday that Berlusconi's comments
were out of tune with EU member states.
"We do not share
the view of Prime Minister Berlusconi" on either the Yukos issue or
Chechnya, said commission spokesman Reijo Kemppinen, adding that he
would describe Berlusconi's comments as "personal remarks."
"The commission
position and insofar as we know the position of the member states is
rather clear and not exactly the same as expressed yesterday" by Berlusconi
in Rome, he added.
Asked if the remarks
were helpful, he replied: "I would not qualify the remarks of the presidency.
I would simply say that insofar as the commission is concerned on those
two particular issues our position is different."
At the closing
press conference of the summit in Rome Thursday Berlusconi took on the
role of Vladimir Putin's "lawyer" and accused the European media of
"telling tales" about the situation in Chechnya.
Berlusconi interjected
when the Russian president was asked a question about the rule of law
in Russia, against the background of the Yukos scandal and the situation
in Chechnya.
On Yukos, the commission
spokesman reiterated Brussels' concerns.
"Even though the
affair is an internal judicial matter for Russia, it also has wider
implications .." said Kempinnen.
"Foreign and more
particularly European business has all the right to be sure that certain
security of investment is guaranteed in Russia .. this case has raised
concerns in this respect," he added.
Nov. 7 2003
Italy rebukes
Prodi for not speaking up sooner
Italy rebuked European
Commission President Romano Prodi on Friday for not speaking up sooner
if he opposed Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's view on Russia's
handling of the YUKOS oil giant and Chechnya.
"Those who weren't
in agreement could have spoken immediately," Berlusconi's spokesman
Paolo Bonaiuti said in a statement.
In a rare criticism
of the country holding the European Union's rotating presidency, the
Commission's chief spokesman said on Friday it does not agree with Berlusconi,
who intervened on Russian President Vladimir Putin's behalf at an EU-Russia
summit on Thursday.
"If the commission
and President Prodi had something contrary to say to Prime Minister
Berlusconi about the Yukos or the Chechen controversies they could have
done so freely during the course of the entire meeting with President
Putin or in the long and animated press conference afterwards," Bonaiuti
said.
//Reuters//
Nov.7, 2003
EU Commission
disowns Berlusconi views on Russia
The European Commission
on Friday disowned Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's view on
Russia's handling of the Yukos oil giant and its behaviour in Chechnya,
a day after he voiced glowing support for Russian President Vladimir
Putin.
In a rare rebuke
to the country holding the EU's rotating presidency, chief Commission
spokesman Reijo Kemppinen told a news conference:
"We do not share
the view of Prime Minister Berlusconi when it comes to the situation
of Yukos, nor when it comes to the present...or past situation in Chechnya."
He said Commission
President Romano Prodi had told Putin at the Rome EU-Russia summit that
the arrest of former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the impounding
of a stake in the private energy company had raised concerns about the
guaranteed security of foreign investment in Russia.
//Reuters//
Dupuis
condemns Berlusconi's comments on Chechnya as "arrogant and cynical
Statement by Olivier
Dupuis, Member of the European Parliament, Radical
"The comments
of the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, according to whom
the media should not "continue to spread myths", are an expression
of arrogance and cynicism.
If, as Berlusconi
states, we should "look at the real facts", we cannot fail to see
that a full-fledged genocide is underway in Chechnya. All we have
to do, and all Mr Berlusconi and his advisors have to do, is read
the reports by Amnesty International, the International Federation
of Human Rights, the Human Rights Watch, or even the filo-Russian
administration of Mr Kadyrov. According to these reports the Russian
troops are guilty of continual and serious violations of the fundamental
rights of the individual.
After his visit
last week to China, hardly notable for its emphasis on the respect
of the fundamental human rights, Mr Berlusconi has taken a further
shameful step by backing the position of President Putin, who came
to power and has strengthened his hand on the back of the genocide
of a small population.
It is time the
Italian Prime Minister gave serious consideration to the Peace Plan
launched by the Chechen Foreign Minister Ilyas Akhmadov, which I invite
the citizens of Europe and the world to support on the website of
the Transnational Radical party: www.radicalparty.org"
Don't forget
Chechnya! You can support the Chechen Minister of Foreign Affairs
Peace Plan for the establishment of an interim United Nations administration
in Chechnya by signing the appeal on the TRP site: www.radicalparty.org
[07.11.2003
16:26] TRP
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