Brussels, 09/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the press after a meeting in Brussels with President Barroso and Commissioners Benita Ferrero-Waldner (external relations), Joaquin Almunia (economic and monetary affairs), Olli Rehn (enlargement), Louis Michel (development) and Franco Frattini (justice and home affairs), that she was looking forward to working with a “strong and united Europe” as the agenda is very full - Afghanistan, Iraq, Broader Middle East, and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Speaking to the press, Ms Rice, José Manuel Barroso and Benita Ferrero-Waldner stated their unified views on the main issues. Today, it is more vital than ever for us to work together in the Middle East, Afghanistan and the Balkans, Barroso said, assuring that the Commission is fully committed to playing the role of “global player”. Ms Rice above all spoke of the rapprochement between Israelis and Palestinians and (saying to Ms Ferrero-Waldner: “Benita, we have been literally tracing each others steps” in the region recently), she said she felt that Americans and Europeans “are going to be strong partners” in this process. Condoleezza Rice announced that a meeting of the Quartet on the Middle East should no doubt be held at the same time as the conference on the Middle East to be held in London (Ed.: in the spring at Tony Blair's initiative). Ms Ferrero-Waldner was “anxious to be an effective partner for the United States and for you, dear Condoleezza”. Answering questions on whether the message she wished to get across in Europe had been well-received, Condoleezza Rice replied: “I think it was getting through before I got here”. She sought to explain that, even when the United States did not have a “common agenda” with some European countries, especially on Iraq, there had always been “common interests”.
Even on the subject of lifting the European arms embargo against China, Ms Rice refuses to believe opinions differ. “I don't think we have a difference over China” as on “all issues that count, we agree” as, she said, they all want a China that plays a positive role in the world. “We have unity of purpose”, she went on, recalling American concerns not only about human rights but also about the risk of “endangering the delicate military balance” in the region where Washington still has troops. (The EU continues to discuss with the United States on this subject but, Barroso said, “we cannot be accused of wanting to rush a decision on lifting the embargo” towards which Europe is moving). Ms Rice developed the same arguments on the subject of Iran (see below). Here too, she said, the American and European objectives are the same, but the United States has specific concerns about the nuclear programme, human rights and support for terrorism (that one cannot accept from any country, whether it be Iran or Syria, Ms Rice said).
On Thursday, Ms Rice is in Luxembourg to meet Jean-Claude Juncker and the European Troika (Jean Asselborn, Javier Solana and Benita Ferrero-Waldner).
“Ms Rice's message is positive”, CFSP High Representative Javier Solana commented on Tuesday evening in an interview with France Europe Express (France 3). “We must stop talking of ourselves and speak among us to solve problems”, he said. On the subject of Iraq, he commented: “In our view, Iraq is not particularly strategic, it is a neighbour” that should regain stability and “its role in the Arab world”. The French Foreign Minister, Michel Barnier, who was on the set of France 3 television, reacted strongly to those who asked whether the French attitude to the Bush Administration has not suddenly become excessively conciliatory. “I heard President Chirac say some very clear things to Condy Rice, things that will be said in Brussels” (during the meeting with President Bush), he commented.