Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-07-07-Speech-4-212"
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"en.20050707.30.4-212"2
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".
Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to be able to lend my full backing to the joint motion for a resolution on the situation in Ethiopia. No attempts are made to hark back to the time of King John; instead, the resolution makes it quite evident that we are aware of the gravity of the situation in one of Africa’s poorest countries. Ethiopia was a founding member of the Organisation of African Unity, but the country is still troubled by the unstable situation in Somalia, as well as by conflicts with the medieval regime in Eritrea. One of its neighbours is Sudan, which has been trying for several decades now to resolve the internal conflicts in its north and south and the disastrous situation in Darfur. In the past, Ethiopia has suffered coups and been ravaged by drought and war in Uganda.
In a situation such as this, it is absolutely crucial to strengthen the faith of the Ethiopian people in democratic systems. I agree with Mrs Gomes, the leader of the election observation mission, in this respect, and it is only right that the resolution should also emphasise this point. That by itself is not enough, however; we must not tolerate the violation or circumvention of the laws of any country, especially when the country in question boasts a high electoral turnout, which is an indication of the public’s enormous interest. Support must be provided to enable a thorough investigation of all complaints. We must step up our efforts, however. A country such as Ethiopia, which is striving to improve its agricultural and industrial situation, needs our assistance. A number of countries have already provided such assistance in the past, and programmes of this kind should be given a major boost. Aid for Ethiopia must be clearly targeted at solving fundamental problems, instead of benefiting the government. It is just as important to send experts to the country to help train farmers, and if necessary to provide assistance in identifying and securing water sources, as to offer places to study at secondary schools and universities in the European Union. There is an old proverb that says; ‘give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for life’. We should take this as our guiding principle."@en1
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