Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-12-01-Speech-3-027"
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"en.20041201.10.3-027"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to start by welcoming Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner. Commissioner, we have had a hand in somewhat extending the time you had to prepare yourself for your new office, but that had nothing to do with you. By way of a word of welcome, let me tell you that you are for all of us the Commissioner for Foreign Relations of the whole European Union, and we offer you our constructive cooperation in the hope that it will reinforce peace in the world.
There are fine moments to be had in this House, and I have just enjoyed one of them. The applause for Mr Saryusz-Wolski, who has just spoken, shows that we are united. Speaking on behalf of our Socialist Group in the European Parliament, I can say that, when peace and democracy are at stake, when it comes to peaceful coexistence and the securing of fundamental citizens’ rights, which the state must guarantee if it is to deserve to be described as a democracy, then we are all on the same side, and that is one of the good things about Europe. Over and above the gulfs that separate us in other respects, there are things we all want, and we Social Democrats are quite clear in our own minds what those things are: fundamental citizens’ rights, fundamental citizens’ freedoms, above all else the unrestricted right to vote, the sovereign right to determine who runs the state – all that is traditional European democracy. I agree with Mr Saryusz-Wolski that, if the Ukrainians are now on the move towards this model of democracy, they will need more than anything else the help of the most successful model of multinational democracy in the world – that being the European Union, in defence of which we in this House should be united!
Discussing these things in the European Parliament is, of course, a straightforward matter; things are much more difficult in Kiev and in the countryside, and there are two crucial factors that must define the roles of all who are currently actively involved, both those based in Ukraine and with responsibilities in that country, and those whom we have sent there, where they act on our behalf. I have not been there, nor am I going there – a delegation from our group is going there today and will assuredly get a much clearer impression than we will – but, when I see these pictures, it becomes clear to me that what there is on the ground is such a mass movement, with the power of the state on the one side colliding with the popular will on the other, that it will be very difficult to steer and direct it, and there is little distance to be covered between a peaceful solution and a bloodbath. This is a responsibility to be assumed by all – by those who bear responsibility in Ukraine, and by those who remind them what their responsibility is. What we need is a peaceful solution, one that will make the people sovereign while maintaining the country’s unity. I might add that that is not only in the Ukrainians’ interests, but also in our own most essential interest. For Europe too, a divided, fragmented or destabilised Ukraine would be fatal.
For that reason, we take pride in the fact that the European Union is conducting conciliatory dialogues on the ground, and we see this as an opportunity. It also shows that it is not the European Union alone that gives itself important tasks, but that it is also sought out as a partner in dialogue and accepted as a mediator. I take pride in the fact that our friends Javier Solana and Aleksander Kwaśniewski are playing key roles in negotiating between the parties – the involvement of the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Relations and the President of Poland is a good sign, for President Kwaśniewski, as you so rightly said, represents a country that has successfully been through this process, and Javier Solana was once a minister in a country – and a member of a party – both of which had freed themselves from a dictatorship. So we now have two men in the thick of things who can draw on their own experience in making an important contribution towards the Ukraine adopting and realising what we describe as a European model of democracy. So we Social Democrats too can address the Ukrainians and say: welcome to the democratic family of peoples!"@en1
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