Georgia-Russia: Dialogue must remain open

6.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 1st Sep 2008

The European Parliament is debating the crisis in Georgia this evening in Brussels in parallel to an emergency summit of the European Council on the same topic. Liberals and Democrats have welcomed the quick initial response of the French Presidency and urged the European Union to speak with one distinctive voice.

Graham Watson MEP, Leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, said:

"Dialogue and engagement will defuse tensions more effectively than isolation. That is the lesson of the cold war.

"The EU should now take three firm measures moving forward: there should be a crisis management and Reconstruction Fund and the rapid deployment of international humanitarian assistance, the Council should designate an EU representative to Georgia who will make both sides listen, and the EU should explore the possibility of sending an ESDP mission with a pro-active role in mediating between the two sides.

"One problem the Union must fix immediately is the glaring anomaly whereby Georgian citizens who take up the offer of Russian passports are given freer access to Europe than those who do not."