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Assemblée parlementaire de l'OTAN
HomeDOCUMENTSCommittee Meeting Summaries2008Tuesday 18 November 2008 - MINUTES of the PLENARY SITTING, Palacio de Congresos, Valencia, Spain
Tuesday 18 November 2008 - MINUTES of the PLENARY SITTING, Palacio de Congresos, Valencia, Spain
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The sitting was opened at 9.10 am on Tuesday, 18 November 2008, with José Lello (Portugal), President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, in the Chair.
The President declared the 54th Annual Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly open. He reminded delegates that amendments to the Committees’ draft Resolutions should be tabled by 9.15 am.
The President addressed the Assembly.
The President welcomed Mr Camps and thanked him for the reception he co-hosted at the Principe Felipe Museum. Mr Camps addressed the Assembly.
There being only one nomination for the post of President of the Assembly, Mr John Tanner (United States) was elected by acclamation. Mr Tanner (United States) addressed the Assembly and presented a letter to the President of the Assembly from the President-Elect of the United States, Barack Obama, as well as a gift from the Assembly. The President read the letter to the Assembly and thanked Mr Tanner. There being five nominations for five positions of Vice-President of the Assembly, Jane Cordy (Canada), Bruce George (United Kingdom), Rasa Jukneviciene (Lithuania), Sven Mikser (Estonia) and Hendrick Jan Ormel (Netherlands) were elected by acclamation in accordance with Article 6, paragraph 5 of the Rules of Procedure. The President thanked the out-going Vice-Presidents for their contributions during two years of service. Bruce George (United Kingdom), a Vice-President of the Assembly, took the Chair.
Mr Clapham (United Kingdom) presented the draft Resolution. Denis MacShane (United Kingdom) spoke. Mr Clapham replied. The draft Resolution on A Way forward in Kosovo [199 CDS 08 E rev. 1] was agreed to.
Mr Cook (United Kingdom) presented the draft Resolution. The draft Resolution on NATO’s Ongoing Operations [198 DSC 08 E rev. 1] was agreed to.
Mr Bayley (United Kingdom) presented the draft Resolution The draft Resolution on Economic Reconstruction in Afghanistan [193 ESC 08 E rev. 1] was agreed to.
Mrs Andreychuk (Canada) presented the draft Resolution. Georgios Kalantzis (Greece), Sergio De Gregorio (Italy) and Rainer Stinner (Germany) spoke. Mrs Andreychuk replied. The draft Resolution on The Future of NATO-Russia Relations [207 PC 08 E rev. 1] was agreed to.
Mr Soares addressed the Assembly. The President thanked Mr Soares.
Mr Saudabayev addressed the Assembly. The President thanked Mr Saudabayev.
Mr de Hoop Scheffer addressed the Assembly and answered questions from Francis Hillmeyer (France), Bruce George (United Kingdom), Karl A. Lamers (Germany), Leon Benoit (Canada), Ragnheidur Arnadóttir (Iceland), Lubov Sliska (Russia), Hendrik Jan Ormel (Netherlands), Nicholas Rurua (Georgia), Jesús Cuadrado (Spain) and Sergio De Gregorio (Italy). The President thanked Mr de Hoop Scheffer.
Mr George, a Vice-President of the Assembly, took the Chair. General Craddock addressed the Assembly and answered questions from Sven Mikser (Estonia), Philippe Vitel (France), Hugh Bayley (United Kingdom), Jossselin de Rohan (France), Frank Cook (United Kingdom), Nicholas Rurua (Georgia), Giorgio La Malfa (Italy), Michael Mates (United Kingdom) and Lord Jopling (United Kingdom). The President thanked General Craddock.
Mr Rojo addressed the Assembly. The President thanked Mr Rojo.
Mr Bono addressed the Assembly. The President thanked Mr Bono. 16. Address by María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, First Vice-President and Acting President of the Government of Spain Ms Fernández de la Vega addressed the Assembly. The President thanked Ms Fernández de la Vega.
The President reported on decisions taken in the Standing Committee.
Mr Saakashvili addressed the Assembly and answered questions from Josselin de Rohan (France), Andriy Shkil (Ukraine), Markus Meckel (Germany) and Savvas Tsitouridis (Greece). The President thanked Mr Saakashvilli.
Pierre Claude Nolin (Canada), a Vice-President of the Assembly, took the Chair. Jan Petersen (Norway) presented the draft Plenary Declaration. Savvas Tsitouridis (Greece) spoke on a point of order. Vaira Paegle (Latvia), Bruce George (United Kingdom), Andreas Loverdos (Greece), Jesús Cuadrado (Spain), Jürgen Ligi (Estonia), Markus Meckel (Germany), Lamberto Dini (Italy), Josselin de Rohan (France) and Rainer Stinner (Germany) spoke. Mr Petersen replied.
Before paragraph 1, insert the following new paragraph: “Recognising that the facts surrounding the outbreak of the hostilities between Georgia and the Russian Federation have not been authoritatively established by objective sources; therefore welcoming the initiative of the European Union to task an independent inquiry commission to establish those circumstances; and noting that full cooperation of the governments of the Russian Federation and Georgia is an indispensable prerequisite for a satisfactory outcome of the inquiry;”. and, consequently, delete paragraph 5. Mr Petersen replied. Savvas Tsitouridis (Greece), Sven Mikser (Estonia), Assen Agov (Bulgaria), Wladyslaw Sidorowicz (Poland), and Sergio De Gregorio (Italy) spoke. Mr Petersen replied and proposed an oral sub-amendment that modified Amendment No. 21 as follows: Leave out paragraph 5 and insert the following new paragraph: “Recognising that the facts surrounding the outbreak of the hostilities between Georgia and the Russian Federation have not been authoritatively established by objective sources; therefore welcoming the initiative of the European Union to task an independent inquiry commission to establish those circumstances; and noting that full cooperation of the governments of the Russian Federation and Georgia is an indispensable prerequisite for a satisfactory outcome of the inquiry;”. The oral sub-amendment was agreed to. Amendment No. 21, as amended (now paragraph 5), was agreed to.
Leave out paragraph 1 and insert the following new paragraph: “Deploring the use of force in the conflict between Georgia and Russia, the disproportionate Russian military action, the displacement of civilians by the conflict and the Russian recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia;”. Nicholas Rurua (Georgia), Assen Agov (Bulgaria) spoke. Mr Petersen replied. Amendment No. 5 was rejected. Amendment No. 7 was withdrawn. Amendment No. 16 was not moved.
In paragraph 1, delete the words “the ethnic cleansing of Georgians from South Ossetia,”. Nicholas Rurua (Georgia), Bruce George (United Kingdom), Visvaldis Lacis (Latvia) and Jesús Cuadrado (Spain) spoke. Mr Petersen replied. Amendment No. 13 was rejected. Paragraph 1 was agreed to.
In paragraph 3, replace the word "has" by the word "had". Mr Petersen replied. Lamberto Dini (Italy) spoke on a point of order. Amendment No. 8 was agreed to. Paragraph 3, as amended, was agreed to. Paragraphs 4 and 6 were agreed to. Amendment No. 9 was withdrawn. Paragraph 7 was agreed to. Paragraphs 8 to 10 were agreed to.
In paragraph 11, replace the words "French leadership" by the words “the French presidency”. Amendment No. 4 was agreed to.
In paragraph 11, replace the word "border" by the word "EU". Mr Petersen replied. Amendment No. 10 was agreed to. Amendment No. 17 fell. Paragraph 11, as amended, was agreed to. Paragraph 12 was agreed to.
At the end of paragraph 13, add the following words: “and noting the great interest of donor countries in assisting Georgia;”. Mr Petersen replied. Amendment No. 18 was agreed to. Paragraph 13, as amended, was agreed to. Paragraphs 14 and 15 were agreed to.
After paragraph 15, insert the following new paragraph: “Welcoming the newly established NATO-Georgia Commission to further deepen political dialogue and cooperation between the Alliance and Tbilisi;” Leon Benoit (Canada) proposed an oral sub-amendment to replace the word “Tbilisi” with the word “Georgia”. Mr Petersen accepted the oral sub-amendment. The oral sub-amendment was agreed to. Nicholas Rurua (Georgia), Assen Agov (Bulgaria) and Bruce George (United Kingdom) spoke. Mr Petersen replied. Sergio De Gregorio spoke. Amendment No. 22, as amended, was agreed to.
Leave out sub-paragraph 16.a (now sub-paragraph 17.a) and insert the following new subparagraph: “to support by all necessary means the EU-initiated independent inquiry commission in its efforts to establish the circumstances surrounding the conflict in Georgia;”. Mr Petersen replied. Nicholas Rurua (Georgia) spoke. Mr Petersen replied. Gerald Kindermans (Belgium) spoke. Amendment No. 6 was rejected.
In sub-paragraph 16.a (now sub-paragraph 17.a), replace the word "truly" by the word "independent". Mr Petersen replied. Sub-paragraph 16.a, as amended (now sub-paragraph 17.a.), was agreed to.
In sub-paragraph 16.b (now sub-paragraph 17.b), after the words “that could lead”, insert the words “, contrary to international law,”. Mr Petersen replied. Amendment No. 24 was agreed to. Sub-paragraph 16.b, as amended (now sub-paragraph 17.b), was agreed to.
In sub-paragraph 16.c (now sub-paragraph 17.c), delete the words “to replace the current arrangement”. Mr Petersen replied. Amendment No. 11 was agreed to. Sub-paragraph 16.c, as amended (now sub-paragraph 17.c), was agreed to.
In sub-paragraph 16.d (now sub-paragraph 17.d), after the words “political and economic reforms”, insert the words: “with a focus on key democratic and institutional goals”. Assen Agov (Bulgaria) and Nicholas Rurua (Georgia) spoke. Mr Petersen replied. Amendment No. 23 was agreed to. Sub-paragraph 16.d, as amended (now sub-paragraph 17.d), was agreed to.
Leave out sub-paragraph 16.e (now sub-paragraph 17.e), and insert the following new subparagraph: “to maintain close cooperation at a high political level with Georgia with a view to implementing the Bucharest Declaration in order to consider a MAP for Georgia if it fully meets the relevant criteria;”.
Mr Petersen replied. Georgio La Malfa (Italy) spoke on a point of order. Amendment No. 15 was rejected. Amendment No. 20 was not moved. Amendment No. 12 was withdrawn. Sub-paragraph 16.e (now sub-paragraph 17.e) was agreed to. Sub-paragraphs 16.f to 16.h (now sub-paragraphs 17.f to 17.h) were agreed to. Amendment No. 3 was withdrawn.
In sub-paragraph 16.i (now sub-paragraph 17.i), delete the words “political and economic”. Mr Petersen spoke. Amendment No. 1 was agreed to. Amendment No. 14 fell. Sub-paragraph 16.i, as amended, (now sub-paragraph 17.i) was agreed to.
After sub-paragraph 16.i (now sub-paragraph 17.i), insert the following new sub-paragraph: “to take into consideration the Georgian experience throughout future work on the Alliance’s new Strategic Concept and contingency planning.” Tchetin Kazak (Bulgaria) spoke. Mr Petersen replied. Amendment No. 2 was withdrawn. Paragraph 16, as amended (now paragraph 17), was agreed to.
Mr Tagarinski (Bulgaria) presented the draft Resolution. Andreas Loverdos (Greece) spoke. The draft Resolution on Energy and Security [202 STC 08 E rev. 1] was agreed to.
The Treasurer of the Assembly presented his Report, the Audited Financial Statements for 2007, the Audited Provident Fund Financial Statement for 2007 and the Budget of the Assembly for 2009. Kurt J. Rossmanith (Germany) and Sir Peter Viggers (United Kingdom) spoke. The Treasurer replied. The Report of the Treasurer [184 FIN 08 E] was adopted. The Audited Financial Statements for 2007 [183 FIN 08 E] and the Audited Provident Fund Financial Statement for 2007 [029 FIN 08 E] were adopted. The draft Budget of the Assembly for 2009 [094 FIN 08 rev. 1] was agreed to. The President thanked the Treasurer.
The Secretary General addressed the Assembly. The President thanked the Secretary General.
The Standing Committee's decision concerning the status of Mauritania was approved.
The decision of the Standing Committee, pursuant to Article 4, paragraph 1, of the Rules of Procedure, concerning Parliamentary Observer status for the Republic of Korea was approved.
The President submitted to the Assembly for final approval the draft amendments to the Rules of Procedure and Financial Regulations, as approved by the Standing Committee. The amendments to the Rules of Procedure and Financial Regulations were approved. 26. Closure of the Session The President thanked the Spanish delegation, its staff, the International Secretariat, the security staff, the interpreters and all the others who had helped the session run so smoothly. The Session was closed at 6.10 pm.
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