Athens / Brussels, 20/01/2003 (Agence Europe) - Appeals to avoid war in Iraq are multiplying in Europe. In an interview published in Die Welt, President Chirac reaffirmed that the international community could only turn to military intervention as "extreme measure", and with an explicit UN mandate. For France, "it is very important to continue to consult closely with Germany", which will succeed it next month at the head of the Security Council, he said.
At the end of talks in Athens on Sunday with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, European Council President Costas Simitis and Council President Georges Papandreou reaffirmed that all had to be done to avoid a war while getting Iraq to respect UN resolutions. On 27 January, when the first General Affairs-External Relations Council is to be held, we shall be in possession of the official report of Hans Blix, noted Papandreou. Fischler, for his part, considered that the EU would have to intensify both its diplomatic efforts and pressure on Baghdad to avoid a "major tragedy" that a war in a region so close would be.
Furthermore, in a declaration published on Monday, the General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), Emilio Gabaglio, says that this war has to be avoided and that "the EU, acting with greater determination and speaking as one, must seek other ways of getting Iraq to comply with United Nations Resolutions". For him, "no complacency is possible vis-à-vis the Iraqi regime", but "Europe cannot be dragged into a conflict triggered at its doors and of which it would be the first to suffer the destabilising consequences, both politically and economically".