Brussels, 13/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - In a column published on the website of the European Council on Foreign Affairs on 9 July, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton speaks of her determination to place human rights at the core of EU foreign policy. Underlining her intention to soon appoint a special envoy on human rights “whose job will be to translate this commitment to human rights into foreign policy practice”, Ashton explains that it was precisely to uphold these rights that she entered politics, and the reason why she has kept at it and what she wants the European External Action Service (EEAS) to be known for. Her hope is to be able to support those who are striving to make a difference in the world “far away from the rostrum of the UN General Assembly and the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels”, and that it is for those people that the EEAS and the EU must work.
Catherine Ashton takes the view that the EU must face two challenges - political coherence and the economic crisis. “We cannot succeed if we talk only about rights to those who want to hear it and otherwise keep silent; and we cannot forget human rights just because we are talking to governments about commercial relations or energy links. Ethics are indivisible”, she underlined, recalling that she has launched European strategy on human rights in order to place human rights at the centre of EU relations with third countries and in all areas of external action without exception.
“We have to accept that, in the minds of some people, the crisis has raised questions about the cogency of the Union's international projection and especially its ability to champion human rights globally”, Ashton said. Asserting that the EU is the greatest economy in the world, Ashton says “this gives the EU considerable leverage to push for the things that matter to us such as respect for people's rights and dignity”.
For comments by High Representative Catherine Ashton see:
http://ecfr.eu/content/entry/commentary_the_eus_rights_of_passage . (CG/transl.jl)