Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-07-21-Speech-3-104"
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"en.19990721.6.3-104"2
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"(EL) Mr President, Madam President-in-Office of the Council, I wish to
welcome the Finnish Presidency for the usual reasons but also for particularly personal reasons. During a particularly dark period of my country"s history, when freedom of movement was effectively forbidden, Finland was the first country which I was able to visit using my journalistic immunity. It was the first European country where I saw with my own eyes what democracy and socialism mean and what it means for a nation to live freely and not under military rule. It was a great eye-opener for me and has remained with me throughout my life.
Madam President, Finland is a country with great experience of surviving peacefully under difficult conditions and with difficult neighbouring countries. It is the ideal country to lead our increasingly urgent endeavours for Balkan reconstruction and already President Ahtisaari has contributed a great deal to this process.
I regret that I cannot speak more on your very interesting programme, but unfortunately political issues have arisen here which I am obliged to comment on. Firstly, Commissioner Fischler"s attack on the decision to locate the reconstruction agency in Thessaloniki. He suggested that this was just a means of getting aid for the area, meaning Greece. I don"t know when he last visited Thessaloniki but I can assure him that it is a thriving city and the establishment of this centre there will not necessarily add anything to the city. Surely, however, it will be very economical for the European Union to establish the Centre in Thessaloniki. I don"t know if the Commission has done its home-work and realised that the alternative would mean higher salaries, that there is no infrastructure in Pristina and that it would have to pay out a great deal to ensure the safety of its staff who would be in danger in an area where there is little safety. So if you consider that, under these circumstances, Pristina is an ideal place to establish an international centre, a central administration covering not only Kosovo but also all of the Balkans, then I regret to say that your comments are not only insincere but are also politically motivated. It makes me wonder how a Commission which no longer has any political authority and whose ethical reputation has been largely discredited, particularly following the Bangemann case, dares to adopt such a stance and campaign against the decisions of the Council of Ministers. I am dumbfounded, Mr Commissioner!
As regards Turkey, Madam Minister, I personally wish to see Turkey heading in the direction of Europeanisation since that will be better for Greece. I would agree with the need for a special strategy for Turkey but please take into consideration that a similar strategy of guarantees for Greece is required by the European Union. Greece is the only country of the European Union whose borders are threatened and disputed by the very country which everyone – we Greeks included – truly wishes to welcome with open arms and to see become a European country.
As regards Öçalan, now regarded by many as a terrorist – just as Arafat and the IRA were terrorists before we accepted them as leaders of their people – the least we can do for him, since the idea of political asylum seems to have fallen by the wayside, is, as our colleague so aptly put it, to save his life if that is what it takes to rid ourselves of the stigma that, up until now, has been attached to our conduct in the matter.
Madam Minister, I apologise for not being able to stay for your reply as I have another urgent commitment, but I would like to send a few words of Finnish to your country:
( I love you)."@en1
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"Katiforis (PSE)"1
"Minä rakastan sinua"1
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