Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-11-16-Speech-2-048"
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"en.20041116.8.2-048"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, in congratulating Mr Wiersma on the quality and comprehensive nature of his report, I wish to emphasise on behalf of the Union for Europe of the Nations Group the importance that this European Union military peacekeeping mission assumes in the extremely sensitive area of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
This is a first for the Union; apart from the symbolic fact that it will allow the 7 000 soldiers already serving under the aegis of NATO now to wear the 12-star symbol on the sleeves of their uniforms, the mission does, in any event, mean a greater European presence and hence greater visibility for the Union in the Balkans.
In the nineties, when bloody ethnic conflicts broke out one after the other in the region, people used to wonder where Europe was, and it was distressing that we were so absent. Today, however, we are witnessing a presence and attention on the part of our institutions that befits the circumstances.
The 7 000 soldiers will arrive in Bosnia in a strong position, and their strength derives not so much from their weapons as from their expertise, their humanity, and their willingness towards the local population. The people are mindful of the need for a military presence on their territory in this delicate phase of stabilising their country, and are therefore ready to welcome them warmly. These soldiers are not arriving alone in unknown territory. With them in Bosnia there are the institutions, the Commission, the High Representative of the Union, who for two and a half years has been working as a truly enlightened governor in Bosnia, in a far-from-easy attempt to ensure the establishment of the rule of law within a renewed framework of peaceful co-existence between the three major ethnic groups in the country.
Parliament, through its delegation led by its indefatigable chairman, Mrs Pack, closely follows events in Bosnia, as shown, among other things, by the recent visit to that country. This visit brought home to members of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Parliament the principles and routes through which they could have a closer relationship with the European Union. Today the perspective is that of a stabilisation and association agreement and tomorrow, at a time we cannot yet foresee, the prospect of future accession.
We should not allow ourselves to be deceived by all this, however. Important steps have been taken in Bosnia on the path to stabilisation. The desire for normalisation is palpable in many areas of the country and the wish to forget the past and to think of the future is shared by all its inhabitants. Of the sixteen points set out in the feasibility study, many have already been translated into law.
It is fitting and heartening to note this, but there is still much to do. The military peacekeeping mission under the aegis of the Union from 2 December is there for this purpose."@en1
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