Jim Murphy

Global Europe Seminars in Budapest and Warsaw

I've just returned from a fascinating two days in Budapest and Warsaw, where I met politicians, business leaders and academics to discuss how we can best work together, within Europe, to tackle the challenges of climate change, the credit crunch, and the Georgia crisis - to name but a few. And I took part in two seminars on the theme of "Building a successful and sustainable Europe".

Poland is, of course, a large and influential EU Member State - one of the "Big Six" - and a natural partner for the UK. We can find common cause on many issues, such as how to best respond to Russia's actions on Georgia. And we have a great deal to discuss on subjects where we differ - for example on the action that is needed to tackle climate change.

In Budapest I was reminded about how passionately Hungarians disagree about their politics, and also had very good discussions of EU issues with Kinga Göncz, the Hungarian Foreign Minister. We released a joint UK-Hungary Human Rights Declaration, emphasising the commitment of both our countries to protecting human rights, and eliminating all forms of discrimination, especially against the Roma, who are a vulnerable and marginalised group in many EU countries. The Budapest Holocaust Memorial Center, with its exhibition "From Deprivation of Rights to Genocide", was a moving example of quite how crucial it is to do everything we can to ensure that discrimination and hatred have no place in the 21st century world. Earlier in the week I had the chance to meet and talk to the remarkable Elie Wiesel at a dinner in London to mark the 20th Anniversary of the Holocaust Educational Trust.  Well done to the Trust for 20 years work in keeping the memory alive.

Posted at 16:35 18 September 2008 by Jim Murphy  |  Comments[2]

Georgia Latest

I agree with Robert who commented on this blog on 17 August - he's right to question whether punishing "ordinary folk" in Russia through imposing visa restrictions is really an effective and logical response to Russia's deplorable actions in the last 2 weeks. The UK's visa policy is always to focus this kind of action on the people responsible rather than the general public - that's why we targetted tightened visa restrictions at Russian officials only in our disagreement over Litvinenko, and why we did not change our visa policy towards ordinary Russians then and why we won't change it now. But we do need to send clear messages to Russia about their behaviour.  As the Foreign Secretary said today in his article in the Times we can't disengage.  The right response is hard-headed engagement to make sure that Russia understands the consequences of its actions. As Russia has breached international norms, the international community needs to respond as one.  The UK has been intensively engaged in international negotiations, including through the EU, G7 OSCE, NATO and the UN, to ensure an appropriate, unified response.

I regret to say that even now the situation on the ground throughout Georgia remains fluid and fragile. Although the ceasefire is largely continuing to hold there are some reports of continuing violence and this must stop immediately. And there are still Russian forces well beyond Abkhazia and South Ossetia. We welcomed the Russian statement that withdrawal was beginning but there is no sign whatsoever of this happening on the ground. We now we need to see evidence on the ground that Russia is living up to the commitments it has made.

The Foreign Secretary has been in Brussels again today, this time for a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of NATO countries.  Some of you will have seen that he has been making these points strongly.  The UK continues to offer Georgia both practical and political support in the short term - for example through sending immediate humanitarian aid - and longer term as they continue with their reform processes. The Foreign Secretary is right now flying to Tbilisi to discuss with partners there what we can do to help, and to see the situation on the ground for himself.

Posted at 16:57 19 August 2008 by Jim Murphy  |  Comments[7]

Events in Georgia

The events in Georgia over the last 5 days have shocked me, people throughout the UK and the international community. Russia's use of force in a sovereign and democratic country is unacceptable and unjustifiable. The situation has been moving too fast to even blog about at times, and I have kept in touch daily with our Ambassador in Tbilisi to follow Russia's movements and motives, Georgia's response and the impact on the people in Georgia, including the 350 or so UK citizens who have been caught up in the violence. The  Prime Minister,  Foreign Secretary and I have  all  been involved in efforts with partners in the EU, NATO, G7, OSCE and UN to put pressure on Russia to end its actions, and David Miliband and I will both be in Brussels tomorrow at an emergency meeting of EU Foreign Ministers to discuss the situation and way forward.
 
Today, President Medvedev has said that Russia's forces will end their operations. We wait to see the evidence of this. I visited Georgia in May and met President Saakashvili and saw for myself the fragile situation on the ground - this has now been shattered. It is for Georgia and the international community to work together, building on the efforts of France and the OSCE, to return to the path towards peace in the region.

Posted at 18:26 12 August 2008 by Jim Murphy  |  Comments[13]

A day of two presidents (part one)

I'm just leaving Azerbaijan after a short visit here and I'm on my way to Georgia. Barely had time to sleep after landing early this morning before beginning a whirlwind set of meetings.

I honestly didn't know what to expect from Azerbaijan - it's not a place you hear about everyday. What I did know was that it was at the very edge of the map of Europe which hangs above my desk in the office!

Some people might ask why the UK has anything to do with Azerbaijan. Well, in purely economic terms it is important with sales of oil and gas amounting to almost 1.5 billion USD a month.It's annual growth rate in recent years has been over 25%, making it the world's fastest growing economy. It is also another secular predominantly muslim country working with the UK and others on some of the big challenges facing the world today. They have troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On a visit like this I make a point of meeting people with diverging opinions and interests so, alongside experts from the energy industry, I met human rights defenders, political analysts, journalists, the Deputy Foreign Minister and the President. All before lunch and catching a flight to Tbilisi, Georgia, and then back to London tonight!

I was particularly glad to be able to visit the Children's Neurological Hospital in Baku where a UK-Azeri charity, United Aid For Azerbaijan (UAFA), has worked for ten years to deliver amazing transformation to the healthcare of developmentally disadvantaged children. Despite the constraints of the soviet-style premises, Gwen Burchell and her team have made a real difference to the lives of so many children and their families. I am pleased that the Azeri government takes an interest in this work. We will continue to support projects like this in Azerbaijan to ensure that the current period of investment and development benefits society in the most important ways.

Posted at 14:14 07 May 2008 by Jim Murphy  |  Comments[1]