Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-01-19-Speech-4-016"
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"en.20060119.3.4-016"2
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"Good morning, Mr President. I should like to assure the Commissioner that she has our full backing for any measures she takes with regard to Gaza. We are delighted that the issue of East Jerusalem was cleared up during the meeting held by the Israeli Government last Sunday. We are also delighted at the news that weapons have been banned on the day of the elections in Gaza and the West Bank. We are closely following the latest developments in connection with Hamas. We are aware that we must apply the same standards and the same criteria to Hamas as to the armed wing of Fatah. The Delegation for relations with Israel is prepared to welcome General Pistolesi to Parliament, and to offer him our full backing for his activities. We will also be very happy to support the Commissioner in any steps she takes to bring pressure to bear on the Israelis to meet their promise to safeguard the free movement of persons, goods and information and, of course, to lend their full support to the Rafah Agreement. We are also making preparations ahead of the forthcoming debate on a definitive solution to the issue of East Jerusalem and its borders.
Nevertheless, I should like to remind the Commissioner that a delegation of Lebanese parliamentarians, two of whom were members of Hezbollah, visited our Parliament yesterday. They strongly urged the EU to help Lebanon, and the thrust of their message was, without a shadow of a doubt, ‘save us from Syria’. We all know, however, that the main problem in the Middle East today is neither Palestine nor Syria, but Iran. I should therefore briefly like to comment, if I may, on a number of precautionary steps that we might consider taking with regard to Iran. For example, we should think about banning Iran from participating in the football World Cup to be held in Germany. We should consider suspending technical assistance from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the present resumption of Iran’s nuclear programme. I would suggest to the Commissioner that we should think about banning Iran Air planes from landing in Europe, and about ways in which we could restrict the movement of high-ranking Iranian representatives.
That being said, Commissioner, I should like, if I may, to make a very personal comment, speaking as someone born in the former Czechoslovakia. As a graduate in Arabic studies, I have been greatly alarmed in recent months, weeks and days at Russia’s growing ambitions in the Middle East. I am not talking merely about Iran, but also about Syria, Yemen and Iraq. We now have a unique opportunity to enlist Russia as a partner, and to tell the Russians that if they are capable of reaching an agreement with the Iranians, then they should go ahead and prove it. We should take Russia seriously as a partner, and we should tell them that if they can back up their words with action, then they should do so. If not, then they should not interfere in the Middle East, since such interference is dangerous."@en1
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