Brussels, 29/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - There are many who want to see a greater European presence throughout the world, “the most visible and most coordinated EU foreign policy possible”, and we must “up to the task which is expected of us”, Javier Solana told the Parliament on Thursday, where he was presenting the challenges facing the CFSP in 2007. The development of the CFSP requires funding, the EU high representative reminded MEPS, as he provided details of the “extremely busy” programme full of “burning issues” on which Europeans must be “active actors”. He also expressed a desire for the member states to look together at the American project to install an anti-missile system on European soil.
Middle East. Mr Solana, who had just returned from Riyadh, where he attended the summit of the Arab League, predicted increasing cooperation with an organisation which Mr Solana stressed has undergone a “revitalisation”, as testified to by the current relaunch of the Arab-Israeli peace initiative drawn up by the League in 2002. This initiative is once again on the table, “with more force and determination from the Arab countries”, he said, expressing a wish that it will help resolve the Palestinian conflict. We must “get out of this crisis management phase in order to arrive at a conflict-resolution phase” between Israel and Palestine, emphasised Mr Solana, who is keen to avoid “turning our positions upside down overnight” on the way to use financing and deal with the new Palestinian government. There are some familiar figures in this new government and “terminating our contacts with these figures would be a mistake”, he added, saying that he preferred to “act depending on actions”.
Although the president of the PES, Martin Schulz, believes that “we must continue to negotiate with non-Hamas Palestinian representatives”, his counterpart in the GUE-NGL group, Francis Wurtz, called for the EU to “resume direct aid to the Palestinian Authority and to recognise the Palestinian government”, as he believes that the latter has made “wide-ranging political commitments”. Inviting Mr Solana “to take the initiative with the new government”, Graham Watson (ALDE, UK) also encouraged him to look once again to Libya and the fate of the Bulgarian nurses imprisoned there.
Iran. We must explain our position to avoid any differences on the subject of non-proliferation, which is not a matter of one country but of the whole world. It would be a serious matter if there were any difference of opinion in the international community on this issue, which encompasses three points: non-proliferation as such, the concept of disarmament, which has been somewhat neglected up to now, and the transfer of technologies. With Iran, we hope to pursue negotiations to arrive at “a political resolution”, but the detention of British sailors is “unacceptable”, Mr Solana lamented, and he was joined in this sentiment by all speakers. On behalf of the Parliament, its president, Hans-Gert Pöttering, called on the Iranian authorities “not to further undermine our trust in them” and to immediately free the 15 British sailors.
“Mr Solana, we have faith in you”, said the president of the EPP-ED group, Joseph Daul, who appealed for “a stronger Europe in a safer world”. We hope that Iran becomes “a full member of the international community, but this would require the country to conform to United Nations resolutions”, he stressed. “Anyone who claims to be a pacifist should demonstrate it”, said his PES counterpart, Martin Schulz. “Anyone who has civil nuclear capabilities and is a large country would want military nuclear capabilities”, Daniel Cohn-Bendit (Greens/EFA, France) subsequently explained, adding that “the key is civil denuclearisation”.
Balkans. It seems “difficult to arrive at a negotiated solution which is accepted by the two parties and the international community will certainly be forced to impose a solution” on the status of Kosovo, Mr Solana recalled. Some difficulties have already emerged in the Security Council, “I am thinking in particular of Russia and possibly China”, and the EU should “set” its position in support of that of Martti Ahtisaari. “Whatever the United Nations' decision, the EU will have an enormous responsibility” and the CFSP mission, preparations for which are well under way, “will probably be the most important EU mission”. In fact, “as soon as the Security Council gives the green light we will be in a position to deploy this operation”, Mr Solana said, also expressing a wish to “be particularly generous” in our efforts towards Serbia, which has a “vocation to become part of the EU”.
Africa. In order to reach a solution on Darfur, “our relations with China and India are crucial”, as these countries are rather reliant on Sudan's energy resources, said Mr Solana. Although the Chinese accept the massacres because of the oil, “the EU must take the initiative” in Darfur, said Mr Cohn-Bendit. “It is no longer a matter of talking”, we must prevent hundreds of people from being massacred every day by Sudanese forces, the co-president of the Greens/EFA group stressed, adding a demand for a UN initiative, as did his ALDE group counterpart.
Anti-missile system. “The EU is not a military alliance but it does have a foreign and security policy and it can and must debate (…)” the anti-missile defence system which the United States wants to deploy in Europe, Mr Solana said. Even though it is not up to the EU to take a decision, “it would be a mistake not to talk about it openly among ourselves”, because this system “could have implications for our relations with third countries such as Russia”, he added. “The sovereign interest of the member states must be compatible with the general interests of the Union”.
The EU is not a defence alliance, but rather “an alliance of dialogue”, added Mr Schulz, who would have preferred that the telephone contact on Wednesday between the US president and his Russian counterpart had concerned the best way to avoid placing missiles, rather than the best way to do it together. In his intervention, Konrad Szymanski (UEN, Poland) simply observed that “the placement (of the anti-missile system) on Polish soil is not a threat to Russia”, which uses “bad arguments”. Mr Cohn-Bendit, on the other hand, said that he did not know if the anti-missile system was against Russia, but “if it is against Iran, it is ridiculous”, also denouncing American unilateralism in Europe. “The political union is the only way to impose our independence”, he noted, calling for Europeans to work together. Washington's plans create enormous concern, according to Jan Marinus Wiersma (PSE, Netherlands), who wondered at the attitude of Poland and the Czech Republic, whose decision will have consequences which go beyond the borders of those two countries.
We need “greater consistency in the use of the instruments we have” as part of the CFSP, said Meglena Kuneva. “The more consistent we are with each other, the more we are clear in what we say, the more we speak with a single voice, the stronger we are”, said the commissioner for consumer protection. (ab)