Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-10-13-Speech-3-079"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20041013.4.3-079"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Madam President, I shall begin by responding briefly to the last comments of my good friend, Mr Swoboda. The four points I have referred to undoubtedly require the participation of the two parties, not only of the Palestinian Authority – which must participate – but also of Israel. That is why we are working in that direction. But we honestly believe – to respond to the request made by Mr Menéndez del Valle a little while ago – that words are not sufficient, that we need to present initiatives, to try to act. That is what we are going to try to do. What I have presented this afternoon is a small programme – not small in terms of its breadth but in terms of its profundity – moving in the direction of our fundamental objective: bringing the road map to its conclusion and in good time, not in the next hundred years. Rest assured that we will take all the measures we can.
His good sense and his intelligence have taught us all a lesson in good practice – at least for me, Chris – and I hope that from Oxford your advice will continue to reach us across the airwaves, via the Internet, through your words, books, by whatever means, but that they continue to reach us. Thank you, Chris, for your cooperation over the last five years. We will not forget you.
I would also like to stress that the withdrawal from Gaza, if carried out within the context of the road map process, is something we support and which would be a good thing. It would be good if there were the law approved by the Knesset allowing withdrawal of the settlements and funding to allow the people living there to leave. Previously they were funded so that they could create settlements. If it is the case that we can achieve the approval of a law to do the opposite within two weeks, it will be a success for Gaza and for the future of the West Bank. We will see whether this is achieved within a few days. Will there be sufficient votes to do so? I believe there will, because in this case the Labour Party is going to support Prime Minister Sharon so that this law can be implemented.
I would insist, however, that the four points I have mentioned require the contribution, support and understanding of the Palestinians and of the Israeli Government.
I would also like to stress, however, that I have talked about something else; we cannot carry on simply with a gradual process. I believe we must take a more courageous step forward and begin to define the final parameters on which the two parties must agree. To this end it is naturally essential that there be an interlocutor accepted by both parties. That is why the support we are going to give the Palestinians is so important, so that they are genuinely able, in their current circumstances, to find the formula for establishing a solid and representative Palestinian Authority which is able to act as a viable interlocutor with Israel. That is what we would call rationality.
The irrational approach would take a different view. I regret to say that irrationality may be winning out over rationality. Unfortunately, we have seen this on numerous occasions. We politicians must continue to support rational actions. If the people responsible for leading other countries do not unfortunately feel the same, we must seek the best way to operate in those circumstances.
I would like to say just three more things. The first is that I have not tried to avoid talking about the regional issue. It seemed to me that the time set aside for the debate was not sufficient to talk about all the issues of the region. There is no question that the issue of Iraq, of Iran and all the issues the honourable Member has raised are priorities on our agenda. It did not seem to me to be the day to go into them and I have not therefore done so.
Secondly, I wished to say to my good friend most respectfully that I have not made any appeal for good will. We do not belong to charitable organisations. We are politicians who want the problems to be resolved. At the end of my speech I made an appeal of a moral nature, but the rest was full of concrete, specific measures, which, if put into practice, must lead to positive results.
I would finally like to defend my personal representative and the representative of the whole of the European Union, Mr Marc Otte, and I would ask Mr Menéndez del Valle to read his comments in their entirety.
Madam President, if you will allow me to change subject, I believe this is the last time I will be in this House, in the European Parliament, with a good friend, Commissioner Chris Patten. We have spent five years together. Many people sitting here today thought that we were both going to be disasters, he and I, and doubly so by working together. Quite the opposite has proven to be the case, and we have shown that two plus two do not necessarily make four, but can in fact make six. For this, I believe we must thank Chris Patten for his cooperation and particularly for his intelligence."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples