Brussels, 24/03/2003 (Agence Europe) - In a resolution adopted at their 21 March Summit in Brussels, the leaders of the Green Parties of the countries of the European Union and countries candidates for enlargement adopted a resolution on Iraq in which they "strongly condemn the decision of President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair in coalition with Aznar to wage war on Iraq". The Greens, meeting on the initiative of the co-presidents of the Greens/EFA Group of the European Parliament, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, and Monica Frassoni, call on the war to halt immediately and on the UN to convene a special session of the General Assembly. Furthermore, they renew their request for the EU to have a single seat on the Security Council. The Greens are, moreover, concerned by the types of weapons that could be used in this war, and call on the warring factions to "refrain from any use of arms with indiscriminate effect on civilians", like deleted uranium, cluster bombs, antipersonnel mines, and chemical and biological weapons, which also have long-lasting and irreversible effects on the environment".
The Greens, moreover, back the democratic forces in Iran and the other neighbouring countries of Iraq, and call on Iran to ensure its security "without relying on weapons of mass destruction".
The resolution also notes that this crisis once more demonstrates that "there is an urgent need to change the patterns of our energy policies based on oil and nuclear energy", and calls on the EU to take the lead in a policy oriented to diminish the dependence from oil by reducing energy consumption and promoting renewable energy".
Finally, the Greens recognise that "the transatlantic dialogue is more important than ever", and hope to develop the dialogue recently established with the members of the American Congress opposed to the war. It would be time, they say, to "bring the most burning problems of our planet back into focus, namely poverty, inequality and environmental degradation".