WRITTEN QUESTION E-1999/00

by Armando Cossutta (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(21 June 2000)

Subject: Latvia: anti-Nazism

Vasili Kononov was 20 years old in 1943, and like many young Europeans at that time fought as a partisan against the Nazi army occupying Latvia, and by the end of the war had won a number of decorations.

Now in his late seventies, Kononov is currently in prison in Riga, accused of having killed nine civilians in a partisan attack on a village 300 km away from the capital. The accusation is based on the testimony of an eye-witness, Maria Kuznetsova, who has subsequently denied the version of events she gave in court and claims that the bodies found in the village at the time were not civilians who had been killed by partisans, but partisans who had been killed by Nazis.

Meanwhile another Latvian citizen, Konrad Kalejs, who used to be a member of a military unit known as Arajs Kommando which collaborated with the Nazis, has been accused of the death of 30 000 Jews, Communists and gypsies. After being discovered in London and expelled from the UK, he returned to Australia, of which he has become a national, and went into hiding. The President of Latvia, Vaira Vika-Friberga, has spoken to the international press of his reservations about the advisability of prosecuting the former Nazi collaborator, commenting that he believes in divine retribution.

1. Does the Council consider that the Latvian authorities' conduct in relation to these two cases is consistent with the values which form the basis of the European Union, to which Latvia is shortly due to accede?

2. Does the Council not consider that it should bring pressure to bear on the Latvian authorities to ensure, firstly, that Kononov is released and, secondly, that his rights as a citizen and as an anti-Nazi ex-combatant are upheld?

3. Does the Council not consider that it should call on the Latvian authorities to make every effort to track Kalejs down and ascertain what part he played in the genocide unleashed throughout Europe against Jews, Roma and Communists?

Reply

(23 October 2000)

The Council takes every opportunity, particularly in the context of the accession process, to defend the fundamental values on which the European Union is founded and which are enshrined in Article 6 (ex Article F) of the Treaty.

As far as Latvia is concerned, Article 2 of the Europe Agreement between that country and the Union, which entered into force on 1 February 1998, states that Respect for democratic principles and human rights, established by the Helsinki Final Act and in the Charter of Paris for a New Europe, as well as the principles of market economy, inspire the domestic and external policies of the parties and constitute essential elements of this Agreement. The Association Council set up by the Europe Agreement is the political body responsible for seeing that the Agreement is properly implemented, and in that role it may examine any major issue or dispute arising in connection with the implementation or interpretation of the Agreement.

Moreover, Latvia is taking part in the current accession process and, as one of the applicant countries, it must observe well-established criteria, in particular the political criteria laid down by the European Council in Copenhagen. In this context the Union has at its disposal two important instruments enabling it to monitor observance of those criteria: firstly, the Accession Partnerships lay down a number of principles, intermediate objectives and conditions for Latvia's accession to the Union. These include requirements relating to guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities. Secondly, regular reports produced each year by the Commission enable the Council to follow the progress achieved by Latvia on the road to accession. The last regular report from the Commission found that Latvia fulfilled the Copenhagen political criteria, and in particular that it had stable institutions guaranteeing democracy and the rule of law. That assessment was endorsed by the Helsinki European Council, which would otherwise not have decided to open accession negotiations with Latvia. Nevertheless, the Union will continue to monitor the situation in the applicant countries closely and will certainly take appropriate action if there is evidence of violations of the fundamental principles referred to above.