Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-03-22-Speech-3-144"
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"en.20060322.13.3-144"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, as we have heard, the United Nations have requested and called on the European Union to make a contribution to the elections in Congo by sending a military mission. What should our answer be?
We need to bear in mind a number of things. First, we need to ask ourselves whether, at this point in time, the European Union has the capabilities needed to carry out such an operation. The second question is: do we not have other priorities in the immediate vicinity of the European Union, for example in the Balkans, where peace-keeping is our first and most important task? Thirdly, is there not a risk here that we will become entangled in a conflict from which we will then not be able to extricate ourselves promptly? These are questions that I, as an MEP, am repeatedly asked in this connection.
On the other hand, we must, as the President-in-Office said, recognise that the European Union has an interest in the stability of this country in the heart of Africa. The fact that the European Union itself is also affected should be clear to anybody who has looked towards Ceuta, Melilla or Lampedusa and the terrible scenes played out at these borders with poverty. Stability in Africa is in the interests of the European Union and of its citizens.
We must be conscious of our responsibility towards the UN. We must be clear that the prevention of violence, which is the aim of this operation, is very much in line with the European Union's security strategy. We should also not forget that a large number of election observers from the European Parliament and from other parliaments, under Mr Morillon’s leadership, are already working in Congo to secure the elections.
What are our conditions for intervention by the European Union in Congo? First, there must be a clear time limit. It cannot be the task of this kind of intervention to stabilise Congo as a whole – that is a long-term task, and the responsibility of the United Nations. That is why there are 17 000 UN soldiers in Congo. We must concentrate on helping to stabilise the elections on 18 June.
Secondly, there must be a clear succession regulation, showing how the United Nations on the one hand, and the Congolese army on the other, will re-assume these activities after our intervention. There must also be a geographical boundary, and it must be clear, for example, that Katanga and the eastern provinces of Congo must continue to be the responsibility of the United Nations and not of the European Union.
Furthermore, it must be quite clear that this operation is definitely European. It must not be just one or two European nations getting involved, but more European nations must really be committed to the task. We need a formal invitation from the interim government. Here, too, there still seems to be some doubt as to what the government of Congo has actually formally said.
Above all, however, we need a convincing plan, a plan that is able to convince any troublemakers that it is better to accept the results of the election, and also to encourage the citizens of Congo to exercise their right to vote. Those are the conditions under which the European Union and we in the European Parliament could agree to such a mission. Now we need, and as soon as possible, to get answers to the questions that are still outstanding."@en1
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