Stockholm - Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt on Wednesday
expressed disappointment over certain developments in neighbouring
Russia during a foreign policy debate in parliament.
While he praised increased 'business activity and human contacts'
with Russia, Bildt noted some 'steps backwards.'
'The political climate and the media climate (in Russia) alike
have become less free. Sometimes we have seen examples of the
language of force being used against neighbouring states that have
led us to react. We are still seeing breaches of human rights in
Chechnya,' Bildt said.
He also mentioned the unsolved murders of Russian reporter Anna
Politkovskaya and former agent Alexander Litvinenko.
Speaking to reporters after the debate, Bildt said he expected to
host Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later this year. A likely
topic during their talks was the controversial Russian-German natural
gas pipeline.
Bildt said he would not state his views on the project, citing
pending 'environmental impact assessments.'
Several EU member states have opposed the project and opinions are
divided in Sweden over the pipeline.
Increased shipping, not least oil from Russia, posed a potential
environmental threat to the Baltic Sea that needed to be monitored,
Bildt said.
A recent example was an accident last week when a Greek-registered
tanker ran aground off the Finnish mainland. The vessel had a
double-hull and there was no oil spill.
Bildt said membership in the European Union was a key plank in the
Swedish centre-right government's foreign policy. He said he
'regretted' that Sweden had rejected the joint European currency in a
2003 referendum, adding that the issue would not be revived during
the current government's four-year term.
The foreign minister said Sweden remained committed to free trade
and believed it would also benefit developing countries.
On the Middle East, Bildt said 'the free and democratic elections
held on the West Bank and in Gaza are a step in the building of the
Palestinian state.'
Urban Ahlin of the opposition Social Democrats presented an
alternative declaration that focused on globalization, and urged a
tougher stance against Sudan.
On Sudan, Bildt told reporters that Sweden and Norway were
prepared to send troops to Darfur as part of a joint force from the
African Union and the United Nations but had no timeframe for the
deployment.
The peace treaty signed last May 'has not worked as we had hoped,'
Bildt said, adding he backed UN mediation efforts headed by his
predecessor Jan Eliasson.
Bildt also noted that it was important not to forget the 'fragile'
peace treaty signed 2005 between the government of Sudan and southern
Sudanese rebels.
The deal grants the southerners an autonomous government and the
right to vote in a 2011 referendum on whether to remain united with
northern Sudan or secede and form their own nation.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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