Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-07-06-Speech-3-274"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20050706.26.3-274"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, some people of our generation find it difficult to talk about Srebrenica, because it is true that we have always asked ourselves what we would have done when, for example, the fascists came to power in Germany. For a long time, we in Europe have been onlookers: the British, by tradition, tended to be pro-Serb, as did the French; the Germans were for Croatia and the Bosniaks had nobody. For years, we left the Bosniaks alone. It was following the tragedy in Srebrenica that we understood the necessity for a European position, in other words a position that could not be either British, German or French, but that had to be a common position.
Today, when we discuss the Srebrenica massacre, we must question the behaviour of Europeans, question the behaviour not of the Dutch soldiers who were in Srebrenica but of the UN itself, because, while the UN’s mandate in Srebrenica authorised the 50 000 soldiers posted to Bosnia to do everything, to control the traffic and so on, it did not authorise them to protect the population. As Europeans, we must examine that, and consider what we did. Mrs Pack was right to bring up the role of governments: her government, at the time headed by Mr Kohl, closed its eyes just like the socialist government in France. That was also the reality of the time.
Today, the European Union provides political stability. The Dayton Agreements provided stability, but nobody here is talking about the problems posed by the Dayton Agreements. Those agreements, which were necessary at the time, contain an ethnic definition of the region, an ethnic definition that is included in the Bosnian constitution. The tragedy in Srebrenica cannot be overcome unless we address the problem of the Dayton Agreements, unless we address the problem of the ethnic definition of the region, because it is that ethnic definition that is now preventing not only the Serbs but also the Croats and Bosniaks from admitting their crimes. That is why we are calling on you, Mr President, Mr Alexander and the Commission, to launch a European initiative to re-open the debate on the Dayton Agreements. Ten years on, we need to re-examine what was decided. The Bosnian constitution is an ethnic constitution that will not allow Bosnia to join the European Union. In conclusion, if we do not have the courage to challenge the Dayton Agreements, we will never learn the lessons of Srebrenica."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples