Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-09-07-Speech-4-184"
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"en.20000907.7.4-184"2
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"Mr President, unfortunately, kidnappings in Sierra Leone are once again in the news. This time it is the kidnapping of eleven British soldiers by the West Side Boys militia. To this we must add the attacks carried out by this group of rebels with the aim of extending their area of influence, which have cost the lives of three members of the pro-governmental forces.
These are actions that the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats strongly condemns and which the European Parliament should also condemn. At the same time, it should also demand the immediate and unconditional release of the soldiers who are being held hostage and show its support for the Government of Sierra Leone, and for the UNAMSIL and British army forces who are working to consolidate peace in that country. It is still a precarious peace, which is demonstrated by this kidnapping. That is why we cannot just stop at words of condemnation, but we must move on to action and also demand that the Lomé Peace Agreements are complied with and that all the militias are disarmed.
However, as long as poverty continues to rule in Sierra Leone, until the trafficking of diamonds is put to an end once and for all and the arms trade is ended, there will be no chance of peace for this tortured country.
The European Union must therefore use every means within its power, not only in order to help fund the peace process, but also, above all, in order to make it possible to establish living conditions that make peace irreversible. We therefore need a generous and coordinated policy of development cooperation, especially in the field of education. This is why a budgetary effort is being requested for this policy, as a policy that will contribute to ending the blight of poverty. But, above all, we need decisive action on the part of the European Union, the Member States and the whole of the international community in order to put an end to diamond trafficking in the area. As long as a country’s natural wealth is only benefiting warlords, that is, as long as diamonds enable the paramilitaries to have sufficient capital to provide themselves with arms and continue their activities, peace will be nothing more than an impossible dream. Without peace, development will only be a Utopia."@en1
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