Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-11-06-Speech-3-088"
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"en.20021106.7.3-088"2
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"Mr President, Mr Solana, Commissioner, as has already been said, the next couple of hours will see the Security Council coming to a decision on the Iraq resolution. Let there be no doubt about the fact that Iraq must unconditionally comply with all the requirements made of it. Such is the EU's position, and it is one with whose substance I agree wholeheartedly. There is now justifiable concern about the way Iraq deploys weapons of mass destruction and makes them widely available. Saddam Hussein has already, on several occasions, demonstrated his readiness to deploy such weapons of mass destruction against his own people. The memories of all of us are still scarred by the Kurds of Halabja, who were killed by poison gas. The brutal persecution of the Shiites in the south of the country is no secret either. Weapons of mass destruction are in the hands of the most diverse regimes and countries, whether one thinks of India or Pakistan or, lastly, of North Korea, which has, indeed, admitted diverting fissile material for nuclear weapons, a breach of international undertakings that amounts to an offensive aimed at getting the pressure off Iraq!
In any case, weapons of mass destruction will only become an incalculable menace to the international community if the rulers with control of them are themselves unpredictable and menacing, as is without doubt true of Saddam Hussein. That is why the Security Council resolution must spell out the necessity of the UN inspectors being able to perform their duties unhindered, of the monitoring teams' powers being extended and of there being no repeat of the cat and mouse game we have seen before. If anyone is to make political visits to Iraq at this time, then it should be international weapons inspectors and nobody else – and I say this with reference to the visit to Iraq of the provincial governor of Carinthia, Jörg Haider, which is his third, and is superfluous and contrary to Austrian interests.
Iraq is far too hazardous a minefield and also deserves better than to be used to satisfy neurotic political egos. Rather than solo acts, what is needed here is concerted action at EU level, which should be undertaken in partnership with the USA. The risk should also be calculable. We must avoid any escalation or any security vacuum affecting the whole of the Middle East. Looking further ahead, there is a need to work at removing the causes of crises, whether they are in Chechnya or in the Middle East, and you have my full support in doing that."@en1
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