Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-09-04-Speech-3-020"
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"en.20020904.1.3-020"2
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"Mr President, yesterday, our group held an extensive debate on the situation in Iraq in the presence of the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mrs Ana De Palacio. It was striking how unanimous our group was, and Mr Hans-Gert Poettering's outline fits in perfectly with this debate. I should like to underline three points.
We have established that Saddam Hussein is without a doubt one of the most dangerous people of our time, with his chemical and biological weapons, which apparently he is also willing to use. After all, he did exactly that against his own people. We have also established that if an intervention proves necessary – but a number of conditions will need to be met first – this can never be done without UN support. This is truly what our group unanimously believes. Thirdly – and this is an appeal to the Commissioner and the Minister – Europe must speak with one voice and must join forces. If this ever proved necessary, then surely now is the time.
I also have a few questions that relate to what Mr Van den Berg said a moment ago. It appears that Europe does not have all the information that the Americans have. In my view, if Europe is to receive support and resources, it is extremely important for all this information to be available, particularly also to the political forums and parliaments.
My second point is one of concern. In all the comments that we make in this matter, we should also consider the situation of Israel. If we treat the entire Arab World in the same way, this could rebound on Israel in a big way. We must therefore, as a matter of key importance, also get the Arab world behind us in this matter.
Finally, a strategy must be developed in order to boost support in Europe, for not all citizens, by a long chalk, are convinced of the need for intervention. For this strategy, we need a European plan, and I think that Mr Patten and the Minister will need to play an important role in this."@en1
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