Seanad debates
Tuesday, 3 March 2015
Commencement Matters
Death of Russian Politician
2:30 pm
Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, to the House.
Paul Bradford (Independent)
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I also welcome the Minister to the House. I wish to raise the unravelling, as I see it, of democratic life in Russia. I am speaking in the context of the murder at the weekend of the opposition political figurehead, Boris Nemtsov. The murderous killing of Mr. Nemtsov, which is being investigated but which will presumably not lead to a conviction, is the most recent manifestation of the difficult life of Russia's political opposition. We are reaching a situation where the Russian people are facing a one-party state. It could be said that Mr. Putin is on the verge of recreating the Soviet Union without socialism. He appears hell-bent on using his political power and influence to crack down completely on any degree of political opposition in Russia. The knock-on effect is now being seen not just on the domestic stage but also on the international one.
How will the Government and the EU respond to the dangerously political and military interventions which are now being planned and carried out in Georgia, Crimea and Ukraine by Mr. Putin and his associates? Where will it stop? The murder of an opposition politician can be seen in conjunction with the Russian Government's new expansionist policy.
Both the Irish Government and the EU need to be much stronger and aggressive in their condemnation of the internal political problems in Russia, including the attacks on opposition figureheads. Every EU government has links with Russia but we should demand that the Russian authorities respect democracy. It certainly is not being respected at present. Together with his EU colleagues, the Minister will have to be stronger in tackling Russian advances in Georgia, Crimea and Ukraine. The question is, what will be next? I do not think the West is acknowledging sufficiently the threat posed by the new Putin policy in Russia. President Obama is not responding with sufficient vigour.
We must learn the lessons of history. If figures such as Vladimir Putin are allowed literally to do as they wish, the question is, where will they stop?Tragically, the lessons of history show where it leads to. He got away with Georgia and the Crimea and he is getting away with Ukraine. He is using new political allegiances and oil revenue to become almost a bully on the international stage. The EU sanctions regime is clearly not working. There are significant trade links between Russia and every EU country, including Ireland, and we must reflect on the cost of those links, including the long-term costs, if they allow Russia to become not just a super-power, as of old, but a bullying super-power.
I ask the Minister to be very strong in his condemnation of the murder at the weekend and to ensure that there is a very strong Irish and EU protest that goes beyond protest and words to actions. We must recognise the threat posed by the current Russian administration - I hope I am not exaggerating - to peace and security in Europe. The long-term plan of the Russian administration certainly does not seem to be of a very peaceful or neighbourly nature. It seems to be about recreating the old threatening Soviet view of eastern European domination. If the Minister speaks to his colleagues in the Baltic states or Poland, I am sure they will give him a much stronger version of things than I could possibly do. We must recognise that we are dealing with a very threatening political figure. I do not think he speaks for or reflects the average Russian citizen or the people of Russia but he is the person in political and military control of his administration and we need to stand up to him.
Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Bradford for raising this important matter. The murder of the prominent Russian opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov, in central Moscow early on Saturday morning was a brutal and cowardly act which was met with widespread shock and disbelief. I have already expressed my sadness at Mr. Nemtsov's death and extended my sympathies to his loved ones. His murder highlighted the vulnerability of opposition figures in Russia at the moment where any form of criticism of the government is seen as an act of disloyalty.
Tributes have poured in for Mr. Nemtsov who served his country with distinction in many roles, including as former deputy Russian Prime Minister under President Yeltsin. He was a courageous champion of democratic reforms and a strong advocate for a more open and tolerant Russia. His loss will be deeply felt not just in Russia, but around the world. The high esteem in which Mr. Nemtsov was held was evident in the size of the crowd that attended a vigil in his honour on Sunday. Tens of thousands of people across a wide range of political parties and movements turned out to mourn his loss and pay tribute to his legacy as a fearless reformer who was not afraid to speak out against the direction that Russia was taking and the policies being pursued by the current government. Large numbers of mourners also attended his memorial service and funeral earlier today. Ireland was represented at both of these events by our ambassador to Russia.
A spokesperson for President Putin said that he had written to Mr. Nemtsov's mother promising that he would personally oversee the investigation into her son's murder. Much speculation surrounds the motives for Mr. Nemtsov's murder. For this reason, it is all the more crucial that the Russian authorities promptly conduct a full and transparent investigation into his killing and that the perpetrators of this callous crime are brought to justice. There should be no culture of impunity in the face of such a crime.
It is also important that the rights to freedom of assembly and expression that Mr. Nemtsov fought so fearlessly to defend are recognised and fully protected. He had been a vocal critic of Russia's actions against Ukraine. In fact, the vigil on Sunday in honour of Mr. Nemtsov replaced an opposition demonstration which he had been instrumental in organising to protest against the state of the economy and Russia's role in the destabilisation of Ukraine.That destabilisation has included the illegal annexation of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol last March. While Russia has officially denied any involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, there is ample evidence that Moscow has been facilitating the supply of fighters and weapons across the border with Ukraine to the rebels.
The European Union has been at the forefront of international efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine and Ireland has participated actively in shaping the Union's approach. We have consistently called on Russia to use its considerable influence on the separatists to end the violence in eastern Ukraine and to support the search for a political resolution to the crisis.
I firmly believe that carefully targeted sanctions are an effective means of encouraging Russia to play a more constructive role in reaching a peaceful settlement to the conflict in Ukraine. This is why Ireland supported the European Union's unanimous decisions to introduce economic sanctions against Russia in July and to further strengthen these measures in September. We have always said that the restrictive measures are scalable. They can be strengthened or eased depending on developments on the ground and progress towards the objectives set by the European Union when we put the existing measures in place.
The issue of Russia and Ukraine has been a regular feature of European Union Council meetings and is likely to remain so for the weeks and months ahead, foreign Ministers will return to the matter at their informal meeting in Riga this weekend. Heads of State and Government will also discuss the issue at the next meeting of the European Council on 19 and 20 March in Brussels.
Paul Bradford (Independent)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. Notwithstanding that it would not produce any dramatic outcome, would the Minister consider summoning the Russian ambassador to his office to have face-to-face talks and express very firmly and very vocally on his behalf and on behalf of the Government and the people his condemnation of the killing and his concern at the ongoing situation, particularly in Ukraine? I appreciate there are Heads of State meetings, foreign Ministers meetings, letters, motions, etc. However, we need to show our absolute strength of conviction on this issue. I request that the Minister consider summoning the Russian ambassador to let him know in no uncertain terms of his concerns.
Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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As I noted earlier, this murder is an appalling act that must be fully and effectively investigated. I believe a failure to find and prosecute his killers will raise serious questions about the criminal justice system in Russia. As I have said already, a culture if impunity must not be allowed to develop in Russia and cannot be tolerated.
With regard to Ukraine, I agree with the Senator. The package of measures agreed at Minsk on 12 February and signed by the parties to the conflict offers hope for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine, which has already claimed 6,000 lives and forced more than 1 million people to flee their homes.
I will be in Riga later this week and, as always, Ireland will actively contribute towards finding a resolution. In this regard I stress the need to have a non-military solution to the situation in Ukraine. All sides must take immediate and concrete steps to honour the commitments they signed up to in Minsk. It is deeds, not words, that will ultimately demonstrate the extent to which the separatists and their Russian backers are genuinely interested in agreeing a peaceful settlement.
The EU sanctions are having an impact. I assure Senator Bradford that the callous and brutal murder of an opposition leader as occurred in Moscow in the early hours of last Saturday is to be utterly condemned. I do not believe any democrat would do other than condemn this in the most forceful terms and let the Russian authorities know that this is intolerable. I thank the Senator for raising the issue this afternoon.