Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-11-18-Speech-4-112"
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"en.20041118.11.4-112"2
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"Mr President, the dramatic events in Côte d'Ivoire have once again alerted us to the fragility of the situation in that country, which in the past was recognised as a great economic success in an otherwise very volatile region of Africa. People used to flock there in search of work and prosperity.
The situation is very worrying because there has been clear incitement to violence. This is particularly resonant when one recalls that exactly the same situation arose in Rwanda, where the militias were urged to attack civilians, and French civilians in particular, in messages broadcast both on government and private radio stations. I welcome the fact that this incitement to violence through broadcasts has been dealt with in the UN resolution, but would also like to see the United Nations being granted, as part of its mandate, a peacekeeper's right to deal with such situations.
The situation in Côte d'Ivoire is primarily about the blame game. When I was there around a year ago on an ACP-EP mission, there was a great deal of talk from the North and the South, the rebels and the government, about which side was responsible for the failure of the Linas-Marcoussis Agreement.
The resentment in that country is not just against France. The weight of history is now being used as a potent weapon to arouse popular resentment against President Gbagbo and France. Some fear that Abidjan is going the way of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country whose skyscrapers and boulevards now lie in ruins.
My view is based on what I saw when I was in Côte d'Ivoire, and is that this confrontation is much more between African and African. It pits ethnic groups from the North against ethnic groups from the South and landowners against migrant workers who want to be landowners. It is also a confrontation over Côte d'Ivoire's most valuable asset, cocoa. What makes the situation particularly intractable is that there are issues that were never resolved at independence and which have continued to fester ever since. These are questions such as: who exactly is a citizen of the Ivory Coast? Who can rule the Ivory Coast? Who can stand for election in the Ivory Coast? Who can own land in the Ivory Coast? The northerners claim that they are being disenfranchised and are continuously being discriminated against by the elites – as they see them – in the South. The problems in Côte d'Ivoire will never be resolved until property rights and other demands are addressed.
Finally, with reference to the UN resolution, I agree that the arms embargo is of great importance. What the previous speaker did not mention, however, was the very important fact that this embargo was strongly supported by the African Union, which is a very positive development. Chapter VII of the UN Charter authorises the use of force in the event of the arms embargo not being respected. I should therefore like to ask the Commission how it will ensure the EU supports and works with the UN in its efforts in Côte d'Ivoire and takes stronger action, over and above Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement, in respect of the situation there."@en1
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