Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-01-26-Speech-3-089"
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"en.20050126.7.3-089"2
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"Mr President, I should be attending a Bureau meeting, so I apologise if I do not stay for the whole debate.
There is now a real hope for peace in the Middle East after the generally free and fair election which took place to elect a successor to Yasser Arafat. At Arafat’s funeral in Cairo, where I represented the European Parliament, intense discussion was already beginning about his successor and the opportunity for a new start. I congratulate Mr Solana for his active engagement in the region since that funeral and until today, and I urge him to continue it.
For the presidential election, the European Parliament sent its largest ever election observation mission. There were 28 Members of the European Parliament, chaired by myself, with Mrs Napoletano as deputy chairman, and we arrived in Jerusalem a few days before the election. I wish to thank all colleagues on that mission – many of whom are here tonight, Parliament’s staff for their outstanding support, and the interpreters. Our delegation met the two principal candidates – Mahmoud Abbas and Mustafa Barghouti – as well as the chairman of the Electoral Commission and Mr Rocard, who will be speaking shortly.
As chairman I laid a wreath at Arafat’s tomb in the Muqata. I also met smaller political parties contesting the elections and, in a completely private capacity, other Palestinian groups.
The European Parliament delegation was consistently met with enthusiasm and confidence in the role that the European Union could play in furthering the democratic process. The Palestinians’ aspiration for EU support was clear, with the European Union flag everywhere. Now we must look to the future and support the Palestinians in their preparations for the legislative elections and their reform of the electoral law.
However, my main message tonight is that the presidential election was a model for the rest of the Arab world, where no democracy exists. Mahatma Gandhi once said, ‘the spirit of democracy cannot be imposed from without’. Mrs Ferrero-Waldner, however, said yesterday to the Euro-Mediterranean Assembly, ‘we can encourage democracy, and we will’. I wholeheartedly support this view and believe that in this, the tenth anniversary year of the Barcelona Process, it is time for the European Union decisively to raise its game in the wider Middle East. After all, this is our neighbourhood, not the Americans’."@en1
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