Brussels, 11/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - In an interview with our sister publication Europe Diplomacy & Defence on 3 May, after his return from Côte d'Ivoire, Agostino Miozzo, EEAS Director General with responsibility for crisis response coordination, highlights the difficulties facing the essential national reconciliation process that President Ouattara must begin and called for increased European Union support, including in the form of assistance with reorganising security forces.
“We found a country that has suffered a great deal”, Miozzo said. He went on: “I worked in Africa for many years and I can tell you that I have seen here a situation which is truly desperate, horrible from the health, social, human, and humanitarian points of view. Horrible! A situation of truly severe degradation and poverty, but in a positive context. That is the contradiction - there is terrible poverty but you have the impression that it can change very fast. (…) But today, we are on the brink of a real humanitarian disaster. International organisations and humanitarian agencies are doing a good job. (…). But the real problem for reconstruction, to allow the country to start up again, is to meet these three priorities: reconciliation, security and reorganisation of the army. (…) For these priorities, you need time. It is not something that you can do overnight. They are processes”. Is a mission for the reform of the security sector something to by envisaged by the EU? “Of course. It must be done” replied Miozzo who went on: “They have an overmanned army. In future, it will be necessary either to reduce the excessive numbers or to keep the same number within a structure in order to be able to control them. A good army model, after the European fashion, would come at a price, with thousands of people in the street with Kalashnikovs, without work, without anything. Choices have to be made and there is a lot of work to be done. In addition to that, there are no customs. There is nothing. And the border is enormous! It is a border that is entirely open, with neighbouring countries that are not always very stable. So, something must be done here, too”.
The full text of the interview was published in Europe Diplomacy & Defence of 12 May. (O.J./transl.jl)