RUSSIAN SPEAKER UNHAPPY OVER EUROPEAN BODY'S DECISION ON CHECHNYA
Interfax News Agency - April 3, 2003

Moscow, 3 April: Chairman of the Russian State Duma Gennadiy Seleznev has harshly criticized the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe's PACE position on the situation in Chechnya.

A number of PACE members "tried to blackmail the Russian delegation", promising to soften their position on Chechnya if Russian parliamentarians supported a PACE resolution on the situation in Iraq, Seleznev noted in an interview with the press on Thursday 3 April .

However, the Russian delegation "did not bargain, because these are two absolutely different issues", Seleznev said. As a result, certain PACE members decided "to bring up the issue of a tribunal for Chechnya". As was reported earlier, the PACE resolution reads that, if Russian law- enforcement agencies fail to ensure efficient punishment of those who grossly violate human rights in Chechnya, Council of Europe parliamentarians will raise the issue of setting up a military tribunal on the situation in the Chechen Republic similar to the tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

"This is just political intrigue, this cannot be called serious politics, and it is just too bad that those deputies are so blind and cannot see the positive processes going on in the Chechen Republic. These deputies do not promote peace in Chechnya; in fact, they always need a conflict zone where they can travel endlessly to make a name," he said.

Seleznev said he believes the outcome of the recent referendum in Chechnya has "very much upset" PACE parliamentarians. "It seems to me that the future elections of the Chechen president and parliament will also upset them, but this is their problem," he said.

Seleznev noted that Russia pays exorbitant financial contributions to PACE and the OSCE, but, taking into account the position of the European parliamentarians, it would probably make sense to reduce such contributions.

Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in English 0756 gmt 3 Apr 03

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