Brussels, 10/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - Following the final stage of her tour of ten European countries on Thursday in Luxembourg, American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the press that after these “wonderful meetings” she was certain that President Bush was “confidant” about the work with the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU “for our common agenda”. After meeting with Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday evening and the EU Troika on Thursday morning (Council President Jean Asselborn, High Representative Javier Solana and European Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner), Ms Rice repeated: we are now ready to get past out past disagreements and look to the future because “there is a lot to do”. This trip may have been “testing”, but it was also “reassuring” for you, said Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, who welcomed the “highly symbolic” visit of President Bush on 22 February, at the same press conference (touching on the topics discussed with Ms Rice, Mr Asselborn noted in passing that having “compared our analyses” of the controversial possibility of the EU lifted its arms sales embargo to China, we better understand “each other's point of view”: we will continue talks on this subject, he added). At the same press conference, where the atmosphere was set fair, as at the European Commission the previous day (EUROPE of yesterday, p. 4), Javier Solana confirmed that during this tour Ms Rice had undoubtedly been able to strengthen her relations with “the friends she had” and also to “make new friends”. At our meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, not only was the atmosphere good but we also had “substantive” discussions, agreed Ms Ferrero-Waldner.
On the discussions, Ms Rice mentioned in particular: - fruitful cooperation in the Balkans; we will continue to have “extensive consultations” on this with Europeans in the coming months, she said; - Ukraine: Ms Rice thanks the EU “very much” for its role in the outcome of the crisis in Kiev, and announced that Washington will take up expert level contacts with the Union to avoid duplications in initiatives towards Kiev; - Russia, a very important partner for Europe and the Americans, where there are “trends which need to be watched”: any Russian isolation would be “terrible” for the international community, said Ms Rice.
Ms Rice was asked above all about Iran and North Korea (which had just decided to suspend indefinitely its participation in six-party talks on its nuclear programme).
On questions such as whether respect for human rights or the threat of owning a nuclear weapon were more serious for Iran than for countries such as Pakistan, Ms Rice stressed the importance of keeping an eye on “trends, which are extremely important”. She took pains to explain that we must look at what Pakistan has accomplished and where it was three and a half years ago, whereas in Iran, nobody could say that the last elections were a positive thing, or that the human rights' situation has improved. As for support for terrorism, she said that Iran “is definitely out of step” with the countries of the region which want peace in the Middle East. Throughout the region, there are “positive tendencies” to democratisation, she said, referring to Saudi Arabia. On the Iranian nuclear programme, she repeated that the EU-3 (France, Germany and the UK: Ed) talks, which, she felt, were at a “considerably early stage” have the same end goal as the US and that the “message is the same”, i.e. that it is unacceptable for Teheran to have nuclear weapons and that if it gives up these aspirations, “life will be better”. Libya has understood this message, commented Ms Rice. Mr Asselborn stressed that the EU is negotiating with Teheran precisely to avoid Iran's becoming a nuclear power and that he sees it as “highly positive” that Europeans and Americans are able to cooperate towards this objective.
As for North Korea, Ms Rice said several times that the United States has no intention of “attacking it or invading it” if it gives up its nuclear weapons. (Whilst noting that the EU was not involved in six-party talks, Javier Solana called on North Korea to review its decision to suspend these talks, which are “the best instrument we have to deal with the nuclear problem in the Korean peninsula”.