Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-05-23-Speech-3-304"
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".
Madam President, Commissioner, I should like to extend warm thanks to the honourable Members of this House for the interest they have shown and also for their support, and my particular thanks go to those who have performed the task of monitoring elections on the ground and who can therefore give very powerful and truthful descriptions of what happened there.
In his speech, Mr Kaczmarek gave it as his opinion that an opportunity had been missed, and to that I want to add that it was not a case of the overwhelming majority of Nigerians missing an opportunity, but rather of there having been people who would not allow the holding of free and independent elections with secret ballots that might have had a significant impact.
The question has been asked from various quarters as to what we can do about this. In your own speech, Mr van den Berg, you also said, that we cannot stint in our commitment to Nigeria and to its civil society in particular. It is very important that we should now, rather than backtracking on this commitment, clarify how the commitment made by us in the European Union can directly benefit the interested parties, not least civil society.
One opportunity to once again spell out what we Europeans think about how elections should be conducted, and about the ways in which they are manipulated, will be the G8 summit in Heiligendamm, at which the President of Nigeria, among others, is expected.
This first impression of what has been going on in Nigeria must not, however, exercise a generally negative influence on Africa’s image in our eyes. Some of you have already mentioned the positive examples that are to be found on the African continent. Mauretania may not be a large country, but we have recently seen how it managed to organise a transition, and also, from its example, what sort of support is needed in order to do that.
Another consideration, bearing in mind the prospect of the Africa Summit between the EU and the African Union being held in November, is the need for it to be made clear for which values the European Union stands, and to what it is committed, in its dealings with its African partners. We must also, at the same time, make clear where we stand in our dialogue with China, for it is not acceptable that China should have only a very limited economic interest in the continent of Africa, whilst the European Union is left to do much else in such areas as responsible action by the state and the development of civil society.
I was struck, a few weeks ago, when I attended a joint meeting between the EU and ECOWAS, to hear the participating countries say that, for many small shoots that had sprouted in them and which they hoped would grow still further, this amounted to a retrograde step. There are also many countries in Africa that are enjoying economic growth and that are well governed. I am glad to see that many of the public media are currently, in preparation for the Africa summit, taking note of that as they take a look at Africa, and that was another reason why it was important that the European Union and some of its Member States should show their colours while securing the elections in Congo, for there are, quite apart from Congo, a number of countries where development is progressing well. So, then, I want to say thank you again for that. I hope that we will, together with the Commission, and with your House’s support, find ways of coming to terms with what has happened in Nigeria; I hope that there will be changes, and that we will be able to give our continued support to those in Nigeria who want that land to change and become a democratic country."@en1
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