Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-11-17-Speech-3-065"
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"en.20041117.4.3-065"2
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"Mr President of the Republic of South Africa, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great honour and pleasure for me to welcome Mr Mbeki, President of the Republic of South Africa, on behalf of the European Parliament. I would also like to welcome Mrs Mbeki and the Ministers and Members of Parliament accompanying the President, who are seated in the gallery.
You have the floor, Mr President.
Mr President, the European Parliament has always followed events in your country very closely. During the apartheid era, not so long ago, we adopted numerous resolutions condemning those practices and supporting the humanitarian aid that the European Commission provides via numerous NGOs. A delegation from this Parliament also participated as observers in the first democratic elections held in your country in April 1994.
On this 10th anniversary of your country's freedom, it is truly extraordinary to see the profound changes that have taken place in South African society in less than ten years, between apartheid and your Presidency of the Republic.
Mr President, we know that your life has been characterised by your fight for freedom and democracy. Since you were 14 years old you have been linked to the activities of the African National Congress in South Africa and in many foreign countries, then as Vice-President of Nelson Mandela's government, and now as President of your nation.
Yes, we should all be amazed and delighted by the incredible development of your country over these last ten years of democracy, the improvements in living conditions, access to housing, running water, education and health. The economic results are also very positive: you have recovered sustainable growth, controlled inflation and a significant increase in your currency reserves. Apart from these achievements, however, the most important thing you have achieved is national reconciliation.
It does you honour, not just you but the whole of humanity, to have put an end to racial separation, not just in a physical sense but also in your citizens’ hearts and minds, where it is surely more difficult to make changes, moving from apartheid to an interracial society, which is more egalitarian, in which there are no gender inequalities either.
Of course, a decade is not long enough to resolve these problems completely. We know that you are facing difficult challenges, particularly in relation to combating Aids and security amongst your citizens. Our relations have developed significantly by means of the multilateralism represented by the Cotonou Agreements and also by means of the agreement between the European Union and the Republic of South Africa in the field of trade and development, which is now fully in force following ratification by all the States of the Union.
Finally, I would like to refer to the important role your country is playing as a mediator in the regional and civil conflicts afflicting your continent. Your country, and yourself personally, have demonstrated this in the Great Lakes region and you are doing so at this very moment in Ivory Coast.
Mr President, believe me that this Parliament has followed the creation of the Pan-African Parliament with great interest, which is now in the Republic of South Africa and with which we hope to maintain close relations in the future. For all these reasons, Mr President, it is an honour for the European Parliament to have you here today, and I am sure that what you are now going to say will be of the greatest interest to all of us."@en1
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"Speech by Mr Mbeki, President of the Republic of South Africa"1
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