Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-02-12-Speech-4-023"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"2004-02-12"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:Afghanistan2
dcterms:Language	"de"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.20040212.1.4-023"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:2004-02-12-Speech-4-0242
lpv:speaker	lp:Ursula Stenzel2
lpv:spokenAs	substitute; Delegation to the EU-Slovak Republic Joint Parliamentary Committee (2002-03-07--2004-04-30)3 member; Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy (2002-01-17--2004-07-19)3 chair; Delegation to the EU-Czech Republic Joint Parliamentary Committee (2002-02-07--2004-04-30)3 member; Conference of Delegation Chairs (2002-02-07--2004-04-30)3 substitute; CONT (2002-01-17--2004-07-19)3 member_of_the_bureau; EPP-ED (1999-10-12--2004-07-19)3 unknown; Österreichische Volkspartei (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3
lpv:translated text	"Madam President, the report on Afghanistan is to be welcomed in so far as it demonstrates that land of the Hindu Kush, having become a focus of international attention in the aftermath of 11 September 2001, will not again be forgotten, and that the European Union is maintaining its financial and political commitment in order to help achieve stability. The essential picture painted by the report is a very pessimistic one, which, in my view, takes too little account of the positive elements, one of which was, without a doubt, the Loya Jirga’s adoption of the constitution last December. The constitution is primarily intended to strengthen central government, without which this country, divided between ethnic groups and torn asunder by decades of warfare and Soviet occupation, has scarcely any chance of building itself into a nation or of normal development. The next thing needed is democratic elections, which will, in this country, be a difficult process. Even though the preparatory work has got underway too late, the elections should be held as soon as possible, on the presupposition that they will reinforce the stabilisation process. I am aware that the Americans are insisting on the elections being held in June, but, if the situation is to be kept calm, and the conditions for a more or less democratic election created, it is not absolutely necessary to stick to this date. We said in August that it would be no disaster if they were to be held rather later. All the other measures intended to help pacify the country can be compared with the proverbial glass of water, which is either half full or half empty. The security situation is as dire as it was before. The militant Taliban have apparently re-established themselves in the south-east, and the Americans are not excluding the possibility of using land troops in a spring offensive. Although the extension of the ISAF’s operations to the areas outside Kabul is to be welcomed, its mandate is so limited that German troops stationed in Kundus – the safest area, incidentally – are in fact simply onlookers while opium smuggling continues to be one of the country’s main sources of revenue, which, in its turn, has made Afghanistan the world’s largest producer of opium. The opium trade is in full swing, still helping to maintain the warlords and their armies, and that is one of the main problems."@en1

Named graphs describing this resource:

The resource appears as object in 2 triples

Context graph