Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-10-12-Speech-3-205-000"
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"en.20111012.16.3-205-000"2
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"Mr President, I would like to thank all the honourable Members who have spoken. I think there is a very clear message coming out from this Parliament tonight concerning the fundamental relationship between the countries in transition and their people and the need to protect human rights. In that context, I am pleased to associate myself with all that has been said about the need to ensure that freedom of expression and freedom of religion and belief should be at the heart of the values held in each of the countries we have been discussing this evening – especially so in the light of the difficult situations and the violence we have seen in Egypt.
I also agree with what has been said about the need to continue our engagement with civil society in the four countries we have been discussing this evening. That is something that we put – and that I put – at the forefront of the work of our delegations and of my own work. It is an enormous pleasure to meet those brave people, many of them women, who have been at the forefront of change and who are seeking the kind of society and the kind of freedoms they see that we in the European Union enjoy. We know that, if we can work collaboratively with them, we can help to engage in that process.
I do believe, as I said earlier tonight, that there is a very special role for this House to play in that process, and I urge all the honourable Members to take up that challenge too, and be willing to engage with civil society – engage with those looking for a new political process, engage with those who are looking for what I have described as ‘deep democracy’ – and offer them your support.
I agree that, in our new strategy for our neighbourhood, the ideas of mutual accountability and ‘more for more’ are really significant. They enable us to support those moving forward on reform, those in civil society and those local organisations and ordinary people who are willing their leadership on to change, and also to support those who are privileged to serve in leadership positions who likewise choose to move forward with reform, to support the economy and the kind of democratic institutions and deep democracy that we wish to see, and to keep that idea of accountability in mind.
We are responsible to the people for delivering what we say we will deliver; those in leadership are responsible for doing what they said they were going to do; and that mutual accountability should, I believe, govern the relationship we have with these countries across our neighbourhood into the future.
I have put out 11 statements on Bahrain, I have put out a number of statements on other countries, and I understand the frustration of feeling that sometimes we use words when we need to seek action. That is also why we need to keep working in the Human Rights Council and in the Security Council, supporting our colleagues in civil society who are seeking change, and making not just statements but also contacts and links in order to say what we know to be true. In Bahrain, that means saying that those who offer medical care should be treated as the heroes and heroines they are, and should not be treated badly by the regime. In Syria, it means saying that those who are trying to come together to provide alternative leadership need to be supported in doing so. In Yemen, it means saying that those who wish to see President Saleh finally do what he said he would also need to be supported, not just with the humanitarian aid we have provided, but also with the full range of support which we can offer.
I know that honourable Members are concerned about the situation in this region and especially in Egypt, a country that has all the potential to be a true and great democracy. It has the potential to throw off the shackles of the past 30 years and grow into the kind of country that the people who stood together day after day in Tahrir Square – people of all faiths, all beliefs and all views, men and women, young and old – have fought for. That is what we have to help the people of Egypt actually to achieve."@en1
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