Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-02-05-Speech-2-146"
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"en.20020205.8.2-146"2
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"It is with considerable sadness, and with full sympathy for your frustration, High Representative Solana, that we have seen the ongoing deterioration of the situation in the Middle East over the past few months, especially when we were convinced, after 11 September, of the urgent need to find a political solution to the problem.
I should simply like to recall the closing statement of the special session of the Mediterranean Forum, held in Brussels in November, before the vote on 13 December on our recommendations preceding the formal declaration by the Laeken Council. I would remind you that this statement called for the immediate and unconditional implementation of the Tenet plan and of the recommendations of the Mitchell committee, and reiterated our conviction, Mr Cohn-Bendit, that establishing an impartial monitoring mechanism would serve the interests of both parties.
It has to be said that all of this has come to nothing and that, in fact, recent events seem to have closed the door on any serious attempt to restart negotiations. Although, like William of Orange, I believe that it is neither necessary to have hope in order to embark on a course of action nor is it necessary to succeed in order to persevere, I feel that we must welcome the fact, Mr Solana, that you are ceaseless, as you have just demonstrated, in making every possible effort to give renewed hope, which is so badly needed in that part of the world, to the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.
We can only encourage you to pursue all initiatives for cooperation between the United Nations, the United States and the most directly involved Arab States, in order to put forward proposals, in conjunction with them, on actions that are crucial to restoring mutual trust and respect, without which the current downward spiral of violence can never be halted.
This is why I am not in favour of our Parliament today playing the role of excommunicator. As Commissioner Patten said in his last speech to this House, ‘What is past, is past’. What we are interested in is the future and the immediate future. I also feel that I am summing up the opinion of the majority of Members when I repeat that we in Parliament are ready and willing to fulfil our mandate to take the initiative by issuing another invitation – why not President Cox? – to the representatives of the two States at the highest level, perhaps even Mr Arafat himself, to come and explain their intentions to us, as the speakers of the Palestinian Legislative Council and the Knesset did in September 2000.
By the same token, we would like to encourage you to give positive consideration, in conjunction with the Presidency-in-Office of the Council, to the possibility of holding an ambitious peace conference along the lines of the conference held in Madrid, in which, Mr Solana, you played such an important part, as you reminded us. In our own interests and for the sake of coherence with the spirit of our unreserved commitment to the fight against terrorism, we must play as active a role as possible in saving the peace process, while respecting the legitimate rights of the region’s peoples."@en1
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