Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-11-06-Speech-3-080"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20021106.7.3-080"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, the events of the last few days served to justify, perhaps more than ever, the presence of Mr Solana here this evening, and on behalf of the European People’s Party, I would like to thank the High Representative for attending this session.
Lastly, we hope that the same conciliatory voice will also be heard within the United Nations Security Council, by those who have been involved in tough negotiations, as you said, for six weeks, to redraft a resolution which places Iraq squarely before its responsibilities, but which still offers the prospect of a solution that does not inevitably involve the use of weapons.
These ten days, which began with the shocking hostage siege in Moscow, came to a tragic end on 26 October and were also marked by increasing concern regarding the growing political instability in the Middle East and by the possibility of war with Iraq which is still being discussed in New York.
As far as Chechnya and our relations with Russia are concerned, we have just heard Mr Prodi express his commitment, and we are asking you, Mr Solana, to speak on our behalf and, I am sure, on behalf of the entire House, and condemn in the strongest possible terms the cowardly and criminal act of terrorism which took place in Moscow. At the same time, however, you must warn against the response in Russia by the public and by some of those responsible for combating terrorism who could confuse the ordinary Chechen population with the extremists who are guilty of preparing and carrying out this crime.
This is precisely the trap that the terrorists wanted the Russian people and government to fall into. And if they do, there is a danger that they will prove the terrorists’ action right.
At the same time, in the Middle East, we have seen political chaos increasing over recent days and almost with each passing hour and this obviously cannot serve the cause of peace. In this respect, Mr Solana, I do not share your optimism. This is because, first of all, on 29 October, the new government of the Palestinian Authority, approved by the Palestinian Legislative Council, was presented with, as you said, a broad majority. President Arafat was still, however, the target of severe criticism even within this House, due to the ineffective reshuffle which kept most of the ministers axed by the same Council in their posts. And the fact that, on this occasion, the Minister of Finance was able to keep his job – you welcomed this – but that the former Interior Minister, who had the courage to call for the end to the violence perpetrated by both sides, was able to be axed, seems, in our view, a very worrying sign that, in this new Cabinet, the hawks may have prevailed over the artisans of peace.
Next, a crisis ensued within the government in Israel which led to the Knesset being dissolved and early elections being called. These could take place even before the date of 28 January that is currently predicted.
We welcome the fact that, when this crisis broke out, the Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon did not give in to a far-right majority which intended to condemn the Oslo Accords, expel Arafat and reject the creation of a Palestinian State. We must fear, however, that this majority will continue to rage throughout the upcoming election campaign, but we also hope that the Israeli people, most of whom are still passionate about peace, will not allow themselves to be carried away by the far-right action.
In this respect as well, we are counting on you and on your representative, Ambassador Moratinos, to try, against the backdrop of increasingly uncontrolled violent outbreaks, to make the conciliatory voice of Europe heard."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples