Brussels, 22/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - The "enlarged" meeting on 20 October of the European Conference (covering the whole of the continent, from the European Union to candidate countries, EFTA countries, the Balkans and Russia, the Ukraine and Moldova) was entirely given over to combating terrorism. In the final press conference on Saturday at the Palais d'Egmont (Brussels), the President of the Council of Ministers, Louis Michel, said it had been a "total success" since all the participants had reaffirmed their solidarity with the United States and confirmed their support for all the measures taken after 11 September to fight terrorism. Without giving details, Mr Michel signalled that "some non-EU Member States" requested on Saturday to be able to apply the European arrest warrant as soon as it comes into force in the EU. The Belgian Presidency replied that the EU would first get it implemented in the Community before considering whether to sign agreements with other countries. The Commissioner for Enlargement, Günter Verheugen, praised the "exemplary" attitude of the candidate countries and other third countries at the European Conference, saying that the candidate countries immediately got involved in all the measures taken by the EU and the EU's declarations, behaving as if they were already Member States.
The joint declaration published on Saturday signals that the countries in the European Conference (extended this time to Russia, the Ukraine and Moldavia) have agreed to:
"Strive, under the aegis of the United Nations, to strengthen the international coalition against terrorism. They will act with determination within the United Nations and other international fora to promote the fight against terrorism and will spare no effort to achieve the signature, ratification as well as complete and rapid implementation of all relevant international conventions in the field of terrorism. They also welcome Security Council Resolution 1373 and will undertake to implement the required measures as soon as possible. Equally, they will strike to complete the negotiations for the general convention on terrorism presented by India in the context of the United Nations."
"Develop and implement national programmes of specific measures against terrorism inspired by the European Union action plan. In this context, they will intensify their coordination which will also involve the pooling of expertise."
"Act resolutely to combat the financing of terrorism and money laundering, inter alia by taking the necessary measures to freeze the assets of the persons identified by the Sanctions Committee set up under Security Council Resolution 1267 and promoting the… enforcement of the UN Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism."
"Ensure that the fight against terrorism is conducted in observance of human rights and the rule of law… They will also step up their humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and the countries in the region."
The countries also agreed to study the conditions and arrangements for an exchange of information on: the activities and movements of individuals or groups belonging to terrorist networks or linked to them; deliveries of weapons, explosives and duel-use goods; and new forms of terrorist activities, including the chemical, biological and nuclear threats.
The countries of the European Conference, Russia, the Ukraine and Moldova also invite all other regional groupings to follow their example by forming effective regional coalitions for the fight against terrorism, signals the declaration.
The European Parliament's representative at the European Conference, Elmar Brok (President of the EP's Foreign Affairs Committee), stressed the need to take a cross-border approach to the fight against terrorism and called for enlargement to be vigorously pursued.
Turkey suggests holding a conference on the "Harmony of Civilisations"
Addressing the Conference, the Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said, "We are carefully studying EU Roadmap of 17 October 2001 (see EUROPE/Documents No. 2254/2255) and elaborating our contributions." Mr Cem added that he had recently attended an "Organisation of Islamic Countries" (OIC) meeting in Qatar where he had shared with several colleagues and later with the OIC General Secretary "the idea of working together with the EU…and candidate states to discuss how to overcome this unfortunate drive, which aims at pitting parts of humanity against each other. I had nothing but positive reactions." (Especially from Louis Michel and Javier Solana, according to Turkish sources.) Mr Cem suggests "bringing together in a conference, political and academic circles from both EU and OIC countries to address issues of a "Harmony of Civilisations"."