Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-01-15-Speech-4-131"
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"en.20040115.7.4-131"2
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".
Mr President, the Commission joins in the strong condemnation of the brutal murder last month of Archbishop Michael Courtney, and expresses its deep sympathy to his family and to the Holy See. The Commission calls upon the government of Burundi to find and bring to justice those responsible for this heinous crime.
The Commission notes, with some optimism, the news that the armed movement, the FNL, is prepared to negotiate with the transitional government of Burundi. We very much hope that these negotiations will finally lead to a ceasefire agreement and the integration of this group into the transitional government.
Events in the last year have demonstrated that the consolidation of the peace process is achievable. The Commission has closely followed and strongly supported the peace process in Burundi, using the instruments at its disposal to ease the conflict and promote reconciliation. For example, we made food aid available for combatants to support the ceasefire of December 2002 and used the rapid reaction mechanism to support the deployment of African Union observers in April 2003.
The Commission did not wait for the establishment of the peace support facility to prepare an emergency programme to support African Union peace-keeping in Burundi and to make available EUR 25 million for the African Mission in Burundi, keeping the peace on the ground. The financing agreement for this programme, seeking a timely contribution to peace, was signed in Brussels this morning during the visit of the President of Burundi. The Commission is also contributing to economic and social reconstruction. Our rehabilitation programme amounts to EUR 48 million and focuses on economic and social infrastructure destroyed by the civil war.
Last August, the Commission signed with Burundi the national indicative programme for the Ninth European Development Fund. This programme, for EUR 172 million, will make available much-needed budget support and promote rural development and good governance, including support to the transitional institutions.
As the Commission confirmed at this week's Donor Conference on Burundi, this new programme comes on top of the ongoing programmes amounting to some EUR 200 million. Humanitarian assistance, through ECHO, will be continued in 2004, and EUR 15 million is earmarked for that. It should therefore be clear that the Commission has the means and the intention to make a substantial contribution to the peace process and the reconstruction of Burundi."@en1
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