Brussels, 14/02/2003 (Agence Europe) - Although the Greek Presidency was unable to tell whether the Fifteen would adopt a common text on Friday at their Special Summit on Iraq on Monday evening, the British Prime Minister once again pleaded for Member States to support military action if Iraq failed to immediately apply United Nations resolutions. In a confidential letter addressed to the other fourteen Heads of State and Government, as well as Romano Prodi and Javier Solana, Mr Blair is demanding that no Member State excludes military action if it is necessary for supporting the authority of the Security Council, namely, military action to force Iraq to apply resolution 1441. Tony Blair adds that they "of course regard military action as a last resort", the Monday Summit should clearly indicate "that in the absence of full and immediate cooperation, the UNSC should move quickly to a second resolution". According to Mr Blair, the Iraqi leader has not seized his last chance offered to him in resolution 1441. "Time is running out", Mr Blair continued and called on the Special Summit to keep up and strengthen the pressure on Saddam.
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, will be taking part in the Monday Summit of the EU. On Sunday morning, political leaders and Foreign Affairs Ministers from the Fifteen will attempt to coordinate Member States' positions. From 11H on Monday, preparation of the Summit will be in the ands of foreign Affairs Ministers. The Summit itself will begin around 18H with discussion with Kofi Annan and the President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox. On Tuesday morning, the Greek Prime Minister, Costas Smitis, accompanied by the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Franco Frattini, the Commission's Romano Prodi, Commissioner Patten and the EU High Representative for CFSP, Javier Solana, will receive the thirteen candidate countries, the majority of which are expected to be represented by their Prime Ministers.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take part in protests against the war against Iraq on Saturday in Europe, the USA and many other countries. Questioned on Friday about the possible participation of European commissioners in these demonstrations, the Commission spokesman explained that there was no rule preventing them from taking part but did not say that any of them intended doing so. Amnesty International has called on Member States (in an open letter) to think seriously about the consequences of a war, including the "possible repercussions of military action on the fundamental rights of the Iraqi people; the risk of worsening an already bad humanitarian situation, the risk of a massive explosion of refugees…the risks of direct attacks against civilians, the use of human shields and the resort to arms, which by their very nature, strike without discrimination".
Tuesday morning, Parliament debate on Summit
Tuesday morning, from 9H30 to 10H30, there will be an enlarged Conference of Presidents for all MEPs, which will allow them to debate the results of the Summit on the previous evening, Costas Simitis will be present. Tuesday at 12H, The President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, will make a contribution to Heads of State and Governments from candidate countries whom the Greek Presidency had invited to provide them with information on the Summit.
Friday, the President of the EPP-ED group at the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, launched an appeal for the Monday Summit to reach a common position from Member States. Mr Pöttering said that it would be a serious mistake if Member States continued to defend different positions from the Security Council, as well as a serious step backwards for the European Security and Defence Policy, in a reference to the Schröder government giving a signal would, "restore it lost credibility" notably in trans-Atlantic relations. Graham Watson, president of the Liberal group declared that Heads of State and governments, "should lock themselves in a room and not come out until they have put aside their differences and forged a common approach to the Iraqi crisis". He also asserted that European governments should "accept reality", namely that, "we are all small countries with shared interests and we must work together in foreign policy".
Thursday, the new meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Council planned for the afternoon had finally been postponed. In Germany, the Defence Minister, Peter Struck noted that a NATO decision on measures for supporting Turkey in case of Iraqi reprisals would not be taken before "Saturday or afterwards".