Brussels, 05/11/2004 (Agence Europe) - Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi thanked the European Union on Friday for its "unanimous support" to help Iraq rebuild and become part of the "international community" once more. Speaking to the press on Friday afternoon after the meeting that he had just had with the EU Heads of State and Government meeting in European Council, Mr Allawi said: "Thanks to our friends in the EU and NATO, we shall reach this goal". "We have today received pledges on the part of the Union for the preparation of elections, institution building and democratisation. (…) We are grateful for this and feel that we should develop close bilateral relations in the future", Mr Allawi said. He formally denied having criticised the EU during his visit to Rome on Thursday for being no more than a "spectator" in Iraq. "I never said that", he said, adding: "Europe has been very generous and useful. At the time when we were fighting against tyranny and dictatorship in our country, we were welcomed in Europe". Mr Allawi said that there were certainly differences with some European countries at the time of the war in Iraq "but we want to look forward, not back". Nonetheless, he warned European countries (for example, the Netherlands and Hungary), that are envisaging withdrawal of their troops from Iraq. Such withdrawal "will have an adverse effect on the situation in Iraq as it will encourage terrorism. And that is something no-one wants", he insisted, stressing that he did not respect the decisions of all these countries. Mr Allawi did not wish to confirm the date of 27 January for Iraqi elections ("the exact date will be decided in the near future"). He did, however, guarantee that the deadline fixed by the UN, namely January, would be maintained for these first free elections since the fall of Saddam Hussein. In answer to questions on the very strained situation in Fallujah, he said that the time remaining to "terrorists" to surrender their weapons and evacuate the places held is beginning to run out: "We intend to free the citizens of Fallujah and to restore order and the rule of law. The window for a peaceful solution is closing".
President of the European Council Jan Peter Balkenende stressed that the EU had taken the commitment with the Iraqi Prime Minister to make, with his government, "every effort necessary for reaching a stable, democratic and sovereign situation in Iraq". The process will be very difficult and will not be achieved by waving a magic wand, Mr Balkenende said. The most important stage will be the organisation of elections and the EU is willing to make a financial and technical contribution to this. "In recent years, Iraq has been a thorny issue for the EU" with sometimes deep divergence between Member States. "We must now move forward and look to the future. All Member States agree in saying that the Iraqis need a stable, democratic and secure State. The EU is willing to make a contribution to this and that is what it is going to do", Mr Balkenende assured. He went on to add that it is not just a matter of Iraq's future but is a "matter that concerns the whole world". Outgoing European Commission President Romano Prodi also highlighted the need for the EU to forget past divisions and to look to the future. "The time has come for reconstruction and stability in Iraq", he said. He felt that multilateral crisis management and the role of the UN were "irreplaceable".
The final declaration that the Heads of Government approved on Friday after their meeting with Mr Allawi corresponds exactly to the text adopted last Tuesday by the Foreign Ministers (EUROPE of 3 November). Thus, the assistance package that the 25 presented to Mr Allawi includes the following elements: a) the EU gives Baghdad the possibility of concluding a political and commercial cooperation agreement. The Commission is invited to begin preparatory work and to consult the Iraqi authorities for preparing the conditions in which such negotiations may be opened. The European Council also invited the Commission to strengthen, as appropriate, its presence in Baghdad; b) the EU will provide additional financial aid (EUR 30 million) for preparing elections and also envisages sending experts to the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq and to contribute to the training of local electoral observers; c) the Member States are ready to make a substantial contribution to the funding of the UN protection force in Iraq. In the meantime, the Commission will pursue discussions with the UN with a view to allowing an EU financial contribution (as such, currently banned by the Treaty) to this protection force; d) the EU will send by the end of the month a team of experts to Iraq to prepare the possible despatch - after the elections in January 2005 - of a mission tasked with helping Iraqi authorities to develop an integrated police, rule of law and effective civilian administration. This mission should be secure, independent and complementary to international efforts; e) the Commission will collaborate with Iraqi authorities to allow the country to benefit from the trade preferences provided by the EU's Generalised System of Preferences (GSP).
In their conclusions, European leaders also restated their aim to ensure the development of a "secure, stable, unified, prosperous and democratic" Iraq that is able to make a positive contribution to the stability of the region, mainly through close cooperation with its neighbours. The Iraqi interim government is encouraged to pursue its effort to reach broader participation by the different factions of the Iraqi society in the political process. "The elections planned for January 2005 are an important step in this process", the Conclusions read. The European Council also welcomes the holding of the international Sharm el Sheikh Conference on 22 and 23 November, to be attended by the EU, which will encourage the process of reconstruction and dialogue with the neighbouring countries. The 25 also recalled that, in 2003 and 2004, the EU made a contribution of more than EUR 300 million for humanitarian action and reconstruction in Iraq, focusing on the rehabilitation of essential services (water, sanitation, education and health), boosting employment and reducing poverty, and providing support to governance, the political process, civil society and human rights.
French President Jacques Chirac told the press before leaving that his early departure for Brussels (he left the European Council mid-morning to go to Abu Dhabi to present France's condolences upon the decease of the president of the United Arab Emirates) had nothing to do with the presence of the Iraqi Prime Minister at the lunch on Friday. "I have never refused to meet the Iraqi Prime Minister", Mr Chirac said, stressing that he would soon be receiving the Iraqi President in Paris. He said: "We have excellent relations with Iraq". Foreign Minister Michel Barnier therefore represented Chirac during the lunch of Twenty-Five with Mr Allawi. German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder said:
"Whatever position we adopted on the war, we all agree to make a contribution to the construction of democracy and stability in Iraq". Mr Schröder spoke in favour of cancelling Iraq's external debt within the Paris club, stating that Germany was prepared to contribute to this. The Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Zapatero confirmed that Spain had no intentions of making any further military commitment to Iraq, but stressed Madrid's willingness to provide financial aid. The Belgian Prime Minister, Guy Verhofstadt, welcomed the aid package offered to Mr Allawi, to which all Member States will contribute, independently of their positions on the war in Iraq, he underlined. The Hungarian Prime Minister, Ferenc Gyurcsany, confirmed that Hungary would withdraw its troops from Iraq, but that no date had as yet been decided upon. The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi also welcomed the unanimity which reigned around the table of the 25 on the need to support Iraq. Speaking to the press, Mr Berlusconi said that he agreed with the Danish Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who told the meeting with Mr Allawi that Danish troops would stay in Iraq "until the job is done". The Polish Prime Minister, Marek Belka, said that the "fact that we are talking about withdrawing troops from Iraq sends out the wrong signal to terrorists" (as Poland has troops out there).