Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-09-15-Speech-3-174"
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"en.19990915.11.3-174"2
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"Mr President, I began my military career as a British army officer in the mid 1960s, engaged on military operations against the Indonesian Army in Borneo in defence of the newly created State of Malaysia. It is perhaps appropriate that I should now begin my parliamentary duties with reference to Indonesia and another State that is in creation – East Timor.
It is over two weeks since the referendum took place in East Timor. The outcome of the referendum and the terrible consequences were very predictable. Yet the international community, with certain exceptions, seems to have been taken by surprise by the way in which this tragedy has unfolded. Quite clearly international pressure had to be put on Indonesia and many of us have called for the early suspension of World Bank and IMF financial assistance and the suspension of arms exports and military cooperation. We therefore welcome the albeit belated common position adopted by the General Affairs Council. If resolute action had been taken earlier, then maybe the Indonesian authorities would have responded differently.
The immediate need now is for the rapid deployment of a peacekeeping force and the delivery of humanitarian aid. I do not necessarily think it is appropriate for the Europeans to react militarily to crises in areas far from their borders. But the crisis in East Timor has highlighted the difficulties for Europeans in responding to yet another peacekeeping task. The fact is that there is little scope for this, even if it was desirable. Capabilities are limited. EU Member States do not spend enough on their armed forces and what they spend is often not spent well. Over the years the United Kingdom has developed a highly effective military capability and yet the United Kingdom armed forces are now desperately overstretched and most Member States of the European Union spend a smaller proportion of their GDP on defence than the United Kingdom.
The most useful European Union contribution in a situation such as East Timor is more likely to be civil rather than military. That is the right sort of focus for us in this situation. We heard from Mrs Halonen that the Commission has been asked to prepare a socio-economic programme for institution building in East Timor. This is most welcome but the programme will require early implementation once the security situation permits, coordination with contributions from other institutions and countries and very careful management to ensure effectiveness.
Finally, there is yet another aspect of this tragedy which we must not forget. Over the past few weeks the most horrific crimes have been committed against Timorese and others, and those responsible must be brought to justice."@en1
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