Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-06-03-Speech-2-292"
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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, with your permission, I should like, first of all, to thank the President, Mr Pat Cox, for his kind invitation, for the quality of the welcome that has been given to my delegation and to me personally, and for the words which he has kindly spoken about me and about the Algerian people, which demonstrate the strong links which unite us with the people of Europe.
Traditionally, we have held regular political consultations with the European Union, a lively and constructive dialogue involving the exchange of many delegations of political parties and members of parliament, who have helped to introduce a climate of understanding into our relationship as a result of a mutual desire to know one another better in order to be better able to cooperate.
Mr President, in this troubled time for international relations, the Euro-Mediterranean region is facing major challenges of different kinds, which are in danger of aggravating the instability factors and the fracture lines between the two shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Europe’s southern Mediterranean coast is the soft underbelly of Europe, as an eminent leader of the twentieth century once said. It was precisely in order to address this situation and to arm ourselves in advance against these dangers that, together, seven years ago now, we launched the pioneering Barcelona process, with which all the countries surrounding the Mediterranean were to associate themselves.
For Algeria, such a process remains a key reference framework, as well as an essential forum for political dialogue and cooperation, and also an instrument which is relevant to the promotion of stability and security throughout the whole of the Mediterranean basin. By its objectives, and by the actions which it envisaged, it gave rise to great hopes among the peoples on the southern shore of the Mediterranean basin.
Today those hopes assume even greater significance at a time when the enlargement of the European Union towards Eastern Europe is in danger of diverting the attention of European countries away from the south towards the east, thereby displacing the real centre of interest of the Barcelona process.
For my part, I remain convinced that the enlargement of Europe ought to be a source of precious political inspiration, enabling us to imagine innovative concepts of cooperation between Europe and the countries south of the Mediterranean, and calming legitimate fears of the risk of Europe’s distancing itself from its neighbours to the south. It is all a question of balance, and I am sure that the European Union will be able to reconcile its various demands which, let us not forget, also influence the stability and the security of the continent of Europe.
Is it not true to say that, twice in its history, my country has found itself, all too unwillingly, involved in two world wars which had Europe as their principal theatre of action, and that, ever since Sedan, Algeria has taken part in all France’s wars? The Euro-Mediterranean project into which we have launched ourselves without hesitation implies, on the part of everyone, a total commitment to the implementation of the objectives set out in the Barcelona Declaration. In this context, our action must take into account the interests of all the partners involved, and must respond to our many and varied concerns. Consequently, it must be global, balanced and multi-dimensional.
Mr President, the emergence of the new context of globalisation had allowed us to hope that growth and development would occur at the same rate. The countries of the South agreed to many sacrifices, often under duress, in order to be a part of this development of the world economy, and adapting to this new situation has often involved painful adjustments and given rise to burdensome social repercussions.
It has to be admitted now that the promised prospects have, so far, become a reality only in the wealthy countries. The split between rich and poor countries is becoming increasingly wide. It is currently a source of deprivation, a source of violence and a source of intolerance, accompanied by other social scourges such as rural exodus and population migration.
As part of the creation of the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area, we are obliged to implement, within relatively short time limits, far-reaching changes to our economic and social system. That represents an enormous challenge and involves huge upheavals in our social and economic structures.
We cannot hope to succeed in making these changes unless the Association Agreement allows the Algerian economy, which is already stretched as a result of the reforms that have been carried out over the past decade, to acquire the means to become integrated, gradually and harmoniously, into the world economy, and to acquire the added value which will give it full credibility, particularly from the point of view of increasing the flow of European investment.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I am speaking to you at a time when the people of Algeria are still seeking to eradicate the consequences of the disastrous earthquake which has plunged them into mourning, to heal the wounds and the traumas caused by this catastrophe and to rebuild the ruins and to restore life to the towns and villages which were destroyed. I am most anxious to express our profound gratitude for the gestures of solidarity and sympathy which the European Parliament made to us, and for the assistance of all kinds which was immediately sent to the disaster area by the countries of Europe.
Despite the difficulties which I have just mentioned, Algeria has launched a huge programme to boost the economy, and has provided funding in the form of USD 7 billion over a period of four years.
This is barely enough, in view of the size of the reforms underway. The support of the European Union is absolutely essential at this particular stage, especially in the form of a sustained commitment to keep investments flowing.
I am afraid that the financial support measures allotted to the Euro-Mediterranean partnership as part of the MEDA programme fall well short of expressed expectations. An example is the budgetary appropriations allocated to Algeria for the first and, in particular, the second tranches of the MEDA bilateral programme.
Mr President, the last 12 years have been an appalling nightmare for the Algerian people, who, while suffering the violence of a particularly cruel form of terrorism, have also had to cope with natural disasters, with droughts lasting several years, with floods, and with several earthquakes, the latest of which has just devastated the area around Algiers. Although international solidarity was spontaneously and generously shown on the occasion of the last two natural disasters, the people of Algeria have, by contrast, had to live with the feeling that they had been abandoned to their fate during the whole of the time that they were subjected to the extortion, destruction and massacres perpetrated by terrorists who – most cruelly of all – claimed to be motivated by religion. The developed world has taken a long time to understand the threat posed by this phenomenon, which has usurped the mantle of ideological respectability and used democracy as a means of persuading European opinion that it has the right to destroy Algerian society.
These terrorist organisations have even found asylum and freedom to act in certain capital cities of Europe, where the massacres in Algeria were still giving rise to questions and doubts which showed a total ignorance of the internal situation of the country and of the threat that it represented to the rest of the world. It was only after the events of 11 September 2001 in the United States that the world’s perception changed and it became possible to envisage terrorism as an international scourge against which it would be necessary to engage in a merciless battle on a worldwide scale. I think I can say that, at that moment, the situation in Algeria became better understood and the sacrifices borne by the Algerian people were at last fully appreciated.
Terrorism is a threat to the very foundations of civilised human society. As a matter of urgency we must put an end, finally, to this nihilistic culture of terrorism. However, it is even more important to mount a thorough campaign not only against the manifestations of terrorism, but above all against its causes, its roots, and everything that gives it sustenance. This world will never build anything solid or lasting unless it bears this objective firmly in mind as a major priority. However, deprivation engenders violence, and unless you wage war on poverty, poverty will wage war on you. In that case we shall never fully enjoy the happiness of a peaceful and secure world.
After 12 years of struggle, the security situation in our country has improved considerably, but it still requires the measures of vigilance and protection made necessary by the isolated acts of violence which occur from time to time. The policy of civil concord and national reconciliation which I introduced as soon as I took office has made a very significant contribution towards calming social tensions, and has reduced terrorist violence to its lowest ever level. Today, that violence no longer constitutes an obstacle to the resumption of economic activity and growth, or to national or foreign investment.
In the same way, political life has come into its own again, and last year saw several important steps regarding the organisation of legislative elections and the holding of local elections – both of which showed crystal-clear and total transparency – and the constitutional amendment which enabled Amazigh to be elevated to the status of a national language. Our willingness to create a state subject to the Rule of Law, which respects the rules of democracy and which respects political pluralism, has once again been reinforced by these democratic advances.
The Algerian Government remains convinced that the deepening of the democratic process and the acceleration of economic and social reforms will allow the emergence and the strengthening of a civil society which is capable of making its contribution to the progress of Algerian society, while respecting the rights and the duties of each individual. In this context, the overall approach of the Government tends to give automatic preference to dialogue and consultation and to make them not only the instrument of political and social regulation but also a powerful factor in promoting vital political and social consensus.
In this dialogue-centred approach, economic and social problems, and the numerous social claims which form the corollary to those problems, assume a special place because of the enormous constraints burdening a national economy which finds itself in the process of changing and of opening up to the demands of the market economy. It is by no means easy to evolve from a planned economy into a liberal economy, any more than it is easy to evolve from political dirigisme to democratic openness. What is more, the market economy, like democracy, originates from a culture which cannot be imposed.
This spontaneous show of solidarity has been a great comfort to the people of Algeria, and I should like, on their behalf, on behalf of the families that have been so sorely tried, to express once again our feelings of intense gratitude to all those who have been at our side throughout this cruel affliction.
At another level, the consolidation of a State subject to the rule of law also comes about through a commitment to reform education, the structures of the State, and the justice system. In this context, the revision of the penal code and of the penal-procedure code which Algeria has started work on is intended to provide more guarantees regarding the independence of the judiciary and the freedom of the press, to which we remain fundamentally committed, seeking in this way to reinforce the ethics of the associated professions.
In our countries, too much ‘state’ is an aberration. The decline of the state, however, leads to catastrophe and anarchy.
The issue of human rights is one of our main concerns. It is included in the steps that we are taking to consolidate a State subject to the rule of law. We are aware of our imperfections in this area, but we all know that in any society respect for human rights requires a long apprenticeship which leads to a true human-rights culture. We are seriously committed to that, and we are persevering in our commitment. The creation of the National Consultative Committee for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights is a response to this major concern, and demonstrates our willingness to move forward in this area.
The Association Agreement which now links us to the European Community will enable us to multiply our contacts and exchanges with European countries, and I am convinced that this will lead us towards a strengthening of the democratic tendencies in our own country, and towards a greater openness towards the human-rights culture.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, is this the place, is this the time? I believe that it is, and I do so in good faith. It is therefore with painful emotion that I again refer to the memory of the victims of the crisis that our country has experienced, assuring their families, as I stand before you here, of the compassion that all Algerian people feel towards them in their pain. The international community has also shown its sympathy and compassion towards them.
Immediately after the dreadful earthquake which shook several provinces, or wilayas, of the country, I asked the Algerian authorities to mobilise all civil and military resources without delay to cope with this national disaster.
The very next day, the Council of Ministers passed the necessary emergency decisions, which the Government immediately implemented. Thus the People’s National Army, the Security Corps, the civil defence authorities, the medical and paramedical services, Sonelgaz, the Algerian water authority and the other major public services, with an acute sense of duty, mobilised all their available human and material resources and united their efforts in order to cope with the crisis and with the tragic situation with which the country was suddenly faced.
As I speak to you here today I should like to express my gratitude, in particular, for the tremendous upsurge of national solidarity which emerged spontaneously throughout the country on the part of all our citizens, and in particular our young people, who were so keen to bring to their brothers in distress the support of the whole nation.
I also wish to emphasise how great has been the international solidarity, which shows the esteem in which Algeria is held today and the respect which is felt for the Algerian people. All the countries, large and small, rich and less rich, to whom I now express my gratitude, in addition to the telephone calls and the messages of condolence and sympathy sent to me, have expressed their willingness to provide any material aid which our country needs, and have been anxious to show their sincere and brotherly solidarity in the form of practical gestures, which the entire Algerian population particularly appreciates.
In this respect I should like to pay particular homage to all those specialist rescue teams, from countries which are our brothers and our friends, who, alongside the People’s National Army, the civil defence authorities and the Algerian medical teams, have done a splendid and remarkable job of work and have provided us with assistance which is greatly appreciated in these difficult times. This extraordinary chain of national and international solidarity has been remarkably well supported by the great majority of the media who have done everything possible to provide, in this case, a real public service, making their communication and broadcasting resources available to the families of the victims.
Mr President, on 22 April 2002 at Valencia, in Spain, Algeria and the European Union, by solemnly signing their Association Agreement, set the seal on a new and sustainable relationship for a future of solidarity and cooperation.
In these sad circumstances I must emphasise that the state has done its duty, the government has assumed its responsibilities, the public institutions and services have played their part and the civilian and military agents of the state, the local authorities and the public establishments and enterprises have done what was required of them. I have personally been at pains to supervise personally the smooth running of operations to assist the victims and the implementation of measures of all kinds adopted in this field, and to verify that all the institutions in the country are remaining mobilised for this purpose.
Finally, I should like to turn my thoughts to the people who have suffered, and who have met this terrible ordeal with exemplary courage and dignity, and I should like to say to them, speaking from this House with you as witnesses, that we shall take it upon ourselves to reconstruct the areas affected by the earthquake. The Algerian people have demonstrated, yet again, that solidarity to them is not an empty word, and that they will find in themselves the strength and the capacity to overcome this new ordeal.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, facing Europe, the African continent is seeking a way of escaping from its under-developed position and, like the European continent, it is trying to achieve unity through better coordination of its efforts and better use of its resources. This ambitious undertaking is intended to be based on a vast economic programme which is currently known by the name of NEPAD, and which the leaders of Africa have once again presented to the Heads of State of the G8 countries at their meeting in Évian. I raise this question because I know the interest that Europeans show in everything that relates to Africa and the sympathy that they have always shown towards the efforts of Africans to participate in world development.
In Africa, development, which has been called the ‘new name of peace’, has for a long time now been more familiar with the inhibiting burdens of selfishness than with the generous outbursts of a dynamic concept of interdependence between nations.
The so-called ‘lost decades’ for developing countries have been followed by more of the same, and the spectres of poverty, famine and pandemic diseases constantly reappear in Africa.
The countries of Africa have learned much from their failures and their mistakes, in their economic and social choices and in the implementation of particularly restrictive structural adaptation programmes. It is thus having come to the end of a path rich in lessons that we find ourselves contemplating the possibility of effective African integration, conceived as a long-term, complex and multi-dimensional undertaking and supported by the cooperation of the world outside. It is a possibility because Africa has courageously brought about a revolution in attitudes in order to ensure a future of democracy, peace and prosperity. The decision taken at the Algiers Summit of the Organisation of African Unity, establishing an African doctrine for the disqualification and rejection of anti-constitutional changes in political regimes, was a historic decision, marking an important stage in Africa’s development. In the same spirit, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (now known as NEPAD) defines new methods of operation, based on specifically African efforts characterised by responsibility and solidarity, such as Peer Review, which is a system whereby each African Head of State voluntarily submits his internal actions to the calm and rigorous assessment of his peers. For its part, the institutional architecture of the African Union includes provisions intended to ensure that the nature and democratic operation of national governments are equipped to deal with any attacks and attempts to pervert them, so that joint African action is in line with rules which no one is allowed to infringe.
In this context, it is of the utmost importance that we should really turn globalisation into an opportunity for the development of the countries of the South, by the encouragement of new forms of partnership, capable of unleashing the dynamics of sustainable growth and development. From this point of view, it must be possible for globalisation, which takes the form of a remarkable contraction in space and time, to become more human and more democratic, because unless the equal participation of all the actors in the great movements of contemporary history is encouraged, globalisation will intrinsically involve the risk of giving free rein to violent forces hostile to the cohesion of national societies and of international society.
The tragic events of 11 September 2001, which brought the horror to its climax, demonstrate the truth that, in the world of today and tomorrow, there can be no sanctuary of security and prosperity in an environment of vulnerability, disorder and destitution.
When international debate covers up legitimate concerns in order to sanction the status quo, when the logic of power relationships carries more weight than mutual understanding, when the voice of reason is stifled or ignored on the international scene, extremists will find an inexhaustible source of nourishment in the injustices, disappointments and frustrations that people experience in their daily lives.
This agreement represents a genuine economic anchor binding Algeria to the European Community, and it is an illustration of our consistent desire – a desire which is shared by our European partners – to base our relationship on the essential values of mutual respect, shared prosperity and friendship.
Fundamentally, the response to the phenomena of violence lies in the proper management of international relationships and the promotion of human rights, in their indivisibility and universality at worldwide level. This presupposes that the international community will abandon its former practices and open itself up to new horizons, in the search for a better-quality destiny for the human race. It also presupposes that Africa will receive its fair share of the benefits of the growth of the world economy, and will become a centre of attraction for the flows of capital and technologies in which it is so cruelly lacking, so that it can assume primary responsibility for its own development and contribute to the greater equilibrium of the emerging international community.
We should like to believe that the meeting in Évian has amplified this message and that the G8 countries have confirmed their faith in the recovery of Africa and renewed their determination to give it all their support in the best-understood interests of everyone.
Algeria is one of the African countries which founded NEPAD, and its activities on the African political scene reflect the major role that it plays in accepting responsibility for and solving the problems which arise in our continent.
A new dynamic is emerging in Africa, whether it is concerned with settling conflicts, deepening the democratic process, improving governance, strengthening institutional capacities or being more ready to accept responsibility for the human dimension of development.
On a smaller scale, we are working with our other partners in North Africa to give substance to the Arab Maghreb Union, of which Algeria currently holds the presidency. I personally have faith in the future of the AMU. I have taken on the task of remodelling it on sound and secure foundations. I have not given up hope of being able, soon, to convene an AMU summit, which will enable us to re-launch sub-regional cooperation. Algeria remains attached to this objective, which cannot be made conditional upon the settlement of the Western Sahara question, which is an issue that requires, in the last analysis, the application of international legality and the implementation of the United Nations settlement plan, to which we are continuing to lend our support. The role of the UN remains central here, as does the holding of the absolutely essential referendum on self-determination.
Recent developments in the Middle East, a region which is so sensitive and which has suffered so much, constitute a forceful challenge to all of us, because of the serious threat that they represent to stability and security in the region and to peace in the world.
Deprived of their most basic rights, the people of Palestine continue to suffer the horrors of a brutal occupation which has lasted too long, and they are paying a heavy toll faced with Israel’s intransigence and its systematic stubbornness in opposing any peace initiative, the latest of which, the ‘roadmap’, has given rise to no less than fourteen major reservations from Israel, which completely destroy the – albeit very modest – substance of the plan.
It is high time that the international community and, in particular, the United Nations Security Council, pulled itself together and acceded to the legitimate claim of the Palestinian people finally to have their own independent State, ...
... in the context of respect for the rights of all the peoples of the region to live in peace and security. We hope that the unacceptable intransigence and repeated demands of Israel will not result in the failure of this latest attempt at a settlement represented by the ‘roadmap’ of the Quartet, despite the somewhat diffident nature of its content.
It is also time that those Syrian and Lebanese territories that are still under Israeli occupation were evacuated and returned to their legitimate rulers.
The situation in Iraq is also a source of great concern in the Arab world. On this issue, Algeria remains in favour of the strict observance of law and of international legality. It now believes that the political stabilisation of Iraq will be achieved by re-establishing the sovereignty of the country, ...
and that the international community, represented by the United Nations, must be effectively involved in any process of political rehabilitation and reconstruction in Iraq.
The undertaking that we gave together on that occasion opens up broad prospects for intensifying the political dialogue between Algeria and the European Union, in the interests of a global partnership which we are hoping will be in line with our expectations.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I have tried to paint you a picture of the situation in Algeria and of certain other issues, both internal and international, which are a source of concern to us. I have tried to promote a better understanding of the situation in Algeria, a situation which Members of the European Parliament can always appreciate for themselves by coming to visit our country, where they are always welcome and where we shall be happy to receive them and very happy to listen to their comments and above all to their advice. These exchanges, which are based on mutual confidence as well as an already established friendship, are more essential than ever now that we are linked by an Association Agreement which strengthens our solidarity.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, allow me once again to thank you for the welcome that you have given to my delegation and to me, and for having been willing to give your attention to what I have to say.
From this platform I say, with your permission, that my country too is made either to succeed or to learn from its misfortunes. One day soon, in a national upsurge of reconciliation between Algerians, the fields of hope will be green again, and the orchards will once more be covered in blossom. The winds of adversity and of national discord will be conquered, without a doubt, by the grace of God and thanks to the tenacity of the Algerian people, tempered like steel by suffering, and, in an increasingly interdependent and mutually supportive world, thanks to the help and the support of the international community.
Was it not an omen that the Treaty of Rome was signed by a France which had full and entire sovereignty over an Algeria which was already into its third year of the war of national liberation and which was nevertheless still divided into three French
? Was there, at that time, a single signatory State to the Treaty of Rome which had the good taste and presence of mind to express reservations in favour of our country which was occupied and struggling to gain national liberty?
This undertaking is in line with my country’s consistent attitude in favour of privileged cooperation with Europe, as is demonstrated by the gamble taken by Algeria in making Europe, right from the beginning of the seventies, its major energy market. Algeria committed itself very early on in that respect, via the construction of gas pipelines through Italy and Spain, to the path of long-term cooperation with Europe, thereby giving an expression to a fundamental act of faith in European integration and in future prospects for cooperation with the European continent.
All this goes to show the importance that my country has always attached to the promotion of political dialogue and an economic partnership with the European Union, and I can only say how much I welcome the fact that the signing of our Association Agreement has strengthened our conviction."@en1
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