Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-11-17-Speech-3-027"
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"en.19991117.2.3-027"2
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"The EU’s combined defence chief and foreign minister, Mr Solana, said very clearly and plainly that Monday’s meeting in Brussels was historic, for – as the representative said – the EU is taking up its rightful place on the world stage. In other words, the EU is to be equipped with a military capacity and to become a superpower. This is plain talking compared to what the press and what government offices are saying, especially in the non-aligned countries which are Members of the European Union. But is it a military superpower that the peoples of Europe need? Both Mr Solana and Mr Patten, and most of the speakers, have revealed a sort of surrealistic
style logic surrounding this whole problem area, a logic which goes like this: shoot first and ask questions later. The trial run for the so-called peacemaking measures, which is of course one of those splendidly misleading euphemisms, may be seen in the Kosovo crisis and in the attack on Kosovo this spring. This is assumed to have been a success which has shown that NATO has a role which the EU should now take over because we can do so more cheaply and more efficiently than the Americans whom, moreover, we are supposed to follow through thick and thin. It was not a success. It was a disaster in every way. Several of the speakers, among them Mr Souchet, have touched on this point. In fact, something like the opposite of what was intended has been achieved. People have a distorted and hypocritical stance on the question of Kosovo’s constitutional status and status in international law, and the action in Kosovo shows first and foremost that the small nations have been made to join forces with the Allies. Their influence has been confined to that of being able to confirm decisions already taken by the large countries. It has been, in every respect, a total fiasco. In fact, it has been more than that: it has been a disaster. It is high time that the European peace movements were revitalised as a counterweight to the foolish militarisation that has been taking place in recent years, for which there is not much support to be found in this Chamber."@en1
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