Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-09-15-Speech-3-180"
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"en.19990915.11.3-180"2
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"Mr President, who can forget the tragic images of Burundi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Bosnia-Herzegovina and more recently, Kosovo that are still fresh in our minds. We have now added to that list the ongoing humanitarian plight of thousands of displaced East Timorese as a result of the well-planned and systematic policy of killings, destruction of property, and intimidation carried out by the militia and elements of the Indonesian security forces.
In most of these situations it must be said that timely action by the international community based upon assessments and early warnings of situations could undoubtedly have saved many lives and greatly reduced human suffering and misery. I do not believe that anyone in this Chamber would deny that recent events in East Timor were totally predictable and therefore to some extent preventable. The international community, in particular the United Nations, has to ask itself some searching and probing questions. I also believe that we in the European Union must put our house in order.
Today, we have just approved the new Commission and in the light of recent events in East Timor, Kosovo and elsewhere I would like to address my remarks to the new Commissioner responsible for the common foreign and security policy. I would like to ask would he assure this Parliament that the establishment of a policy planning and early warning unit as envisaged under the Amsterdam Treaty will be given top priority? In addition, will he guarantee that this unit will provide the appropriate parliamentary committees with all the relevant information including analyses, recommendations and strategies on any potential crisis which should be monitored by this Parliament.
The provision of such information would greatly enhance Parliament’s contribution to the development of a more effective and cohesive EU foreign policy, which is long overdue. We must ensure that the EU responds urgently and effectively to potential crisis situations and thereby helps prevent the recurrence of the sort of tragedies that we have recently experienced in East Timor."@en1
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