07/11/2003 PRESS RELEASE:

The Chechen foreign Ministry unequivocally condemns attempts to cover up Kremlin's wae crimes and crimes against humanity in Chechnya, from whomever they come.

At the closing press conference of the EU-Russia summit in Rome yesterday Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, admittedly acting as “Putin's defence lawyer”, tried to justify President Putin’s genocidal policy in Chechnya by accusing the European media of "telling tales" about the situation in Chechnya and supporting Putin’s genocidal policy in Chechnya.

Mr. Berlusconi’s statement is a shocking attempt to deceive the world about the situation in Chechnya and about President Putin’s genocidal policy. It deserves a strong and immediate condemnation from all democratic governments of the world. President Putin’s Russia has subjected the entire Chechen nation to systematic, collective and deliberate war crimes and crimes against humanity, brutally murdered a quarter of the Chechen population, turned hundreds of thousands Chechens into homeless and right-less refugees, and ruined the country.

Mr. Berlusconi’s statement is an insult to the memory of hundreds of thousands innocent Chechen women, children and men, who have been tortured, raped and murdered by President Putin genocidal troops and his KGB-style secret services. It is an insult to every Chechen who has lost his relatives and friends in Putin’s Nazi style concentration camps. It is an insult to every human being that values human rights and democracy. It is a blow to the credibility of the Italian presidency in the European Union and it is a setback to the European Common Foreign and Security Policy.

The Chechen Foreign Ministry therefore unequivocally rejects Mr. Berlusconi’s statement and condemns any attempt to cover up President Putin’s war crimes and crimes against humanity in Chechnya, from whomever it comes. If Mr. Berlusconi, who has a vast experience with legal systems, wants to be Putin’s defence lawyer, we only hope that he will have his chance, when those who are guilty of genocidal crimes in Chechnya face an international or a Chechen tribunal.

It is extremely disappointing that Mr. Berlusconi fails to recognize that Putin’s government, as US Senator John McCain has recently observed, is “a continuation of 400 years of autocratic state control, and repression”. We are glad that EU leaders have expressed disappointment over Berlusconi’s remarks. We hope that member states of the EU will also distance from these unjustifiable misrepresentation of the situation in Chechnya deliberately aimed to cover up atrocious crimes of the current Russian regime.

Despite of the lack of courage and determination of the international community, we remain fully confident that perpetrators of the genocidal crimes in Chechnya and their accomplices will be brought to justice. The Chechen nation, together with the international community or alone, will defeat Russia’s colonial rule and bring justice to its innocent victims.

Press Office

AFP

Sweden, Denmark distance themselves from Berlusconi remarks

07 November 2003

The Danish and Swedish foreign ministers on Friday both distanced themselves from remarks made by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Russia's handling of the war in Chechnya.

In an outburst at the closing press conference of an EU-Russia summit in Rome on Thursday, Berlusconi accused the European media of "telling tales" about the situation in Chechnya.

"The truth is that there are often distortions in the press, in Italy as abroad. It's the same thing as far as Chechnya and the Yukos story is concerned," the Italian leader said.

Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said he disagreed with Berlusconi, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.

"The Danish and European Union policy on the Chechen conflict is clear: we recognize Russia's territorial integrity. But Russia's actions against its own citizens in Chechnya are cause for great concern," he told the Ritzau news agency. (*)

He recalled that the EU has on several occasions criticized the Russian army's methods in Chechnya.

"Russia must prevent human rights violations in Chechnya. Attacks on the civilian population must be investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice," he said.

Meanwhile, Swedish Foreign Minister Leila Freivalds said she was astonished by the Italian leader's remarks.

"I am surprised by Berlusconi's comments -- everybody knows what is going on in Chechnya. Russia must respect human rights," she told the TT news agency.

Freivalds said his remarks made her less confident of Italy's ability to properly represent the EU during its chairmanship.

"It does not inspire confidence when he expresses himself this way on an issue on which the EU has a very clear position," she said.


The Independent - United Kingdom, Nov 08, 2003

Berlusconi causes new EU rift with Chechnya remarks

ITALY'S MAVERICK premier, Silvio Berlusconi, was at the centre of a deep diplomatic rift yesterday after undermining Europe's efforts to put pressure on Russia to improve human rights in Chechnya.

Mr Berlusconi contradicted agreed EU policy by defending Moscow's behaviour in Chechnya, provoking a diplomatic outcry. He also plunged the Italian presidency of the EU into a rare public rift with the European Commission - something both sides normally take huge pains to avoid.

The Italian leader's controversial comments were made after an EU- Russia summit in Rome on Thursday at which he also defended Moscow's handling of the case concerning the Yukos oil giant. Mr Berlusconi, who has styled himself as an ally of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, said that "in Chechnya, there has been terrorist activity that has produced many attacks against Russian citizens and there has never been an equivalent response from the Russian Federation".

He added: "The truth is that there are often distortions in the press, in Italy as abroad. It's the same thing as far as Chechnya and the Yukos  story is concerned," he said, referring to the arrest of the head of Yukos, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, on fraud charges. The Italian Prime Minister's statement undermined months of preparation by the European Commission, which has been trying to exert pressure on Mr Putin over its human rights record in Chechnya.

Chris Patten, European commissioner for external relations, had highlighted EU concerns over human rights in Chechnya during private talks with Mr Putin. He later distanced himself from Mr Berlusconi's words, and one official described the Italian premier's intervention as "insane".

The Commission is increasingly exasperated by the way in which Moscow manages to undermine agreed policy by winning support in key European capitals, including Rome, London and Paris.

"What is the point of saying these things in talks to put pressure on the Russians if the President of the Council then contradicts them?" one official said. Significantly, the Chechnya issue was avoided in the agreed statement at the end of the summit, to the anger of human rights campaigners.

The episode highlights the difficulties of forging a common EU foreign policy, and is likely to strengthen calls for the reform of the rotating presidency system, which is due to be changed in a new constitution for the EU. But it also produced a spectacular row between Mr Berlusconi and Mr Prodi, who are bitter political rivals. The two men have been scarcely able to disguise their mutual loathing, but relations now appear to have reached rock bottom.

In the aftermath of the press conference, Mr Prodi said: "I hope that Prime Minister Berlusconi's information on the state of affairs regarding the media in Russia is better than the one President Putin has been given of Italy."

Yesterday Mr Berlusconi's aides hit back, arguing: "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."

Mr Prodi's spokesman, Reijo Kemppinen, said that Mr Patten had made the Commission's view on Chechnya clear during talks with Mr Putin.