Jim Murphy

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 two)

I'm on my way back to the UK via a quiet Munich airport at the moment. I left a peaceful, beautiful and very green Tbilisi very early this morning.

Again on this half of my trip I made a point of meeting both government and opposition representatives - especially important as both sides prepare for parliamentary elections on 21 May. I was delighted to meet President Mikhail Saakishvili - my second president of the day.

As a country, Georgia has come a long way since the "Rose Revolution" of 2003. Everyone I spoke to agreed that remarkable progress had been made in areas like corruption, for example eliminating bribes to traffic police. But there's still much to do. Democracy can still be deepened. Access to free and fair media will help opposition parties to develop into credible choices for voters.

The country is obviously focussed on recent developments in Abkhazia and South Ossetia - the areas of "frozen conflict". The shooting down of a Georgian unmanned aircraft and Russia's recent decisions to establish legal links and to increase the number of Russian peacekeepers have heightened tensions.

There needs to be a concerted diplomatic effort to resolve this dispute between Russia and Georgia. If we don't Georgia will slip backwards.

Posted at 10:51 08 May 2008 by Jim Murphy  |  Comments[1]

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]