Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-10-11-Speech-3-046"
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"en.20061011.13.3-046"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, this debate is being conducted against the backdrop of a difficult situation, but I do think that what Mr Solana and Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner have said shows that the European Union, in the persons of its High Representative and its Foreign Affairs Commissioner, is trying to respond to it in the right way. It is only normal that our response should be one of anger. It is quite clear that what is happening is that a system that is on its last legs is trying, by means of provocation to get others to respect it and pay it attention, and perhaps to reap some advantage in so doing. That is not a matter of doubt, and the normal response is to say that this will not be allowed, that it cannot be allowed, and that boundaries must be set, knowing full well that the choice of possible responses is limited by that fact that – to turn the argument on its head – the possession of a nuclear weapon by a regime such as this one, whose actions are so unpredictable, itself constitutes an incalculable risk.
In a situation such as this, we have to think before we act, and so, Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner, our group unreservedly endorses what you said about the need for a distinction to be drawn between what a delusional dictator gets up to with his armed forces and what the other side needs to do with humanitarian considerations in mind. The people should not be punished for the madness of the dictator who rules over them, and it is for that reason that we support these measures.
Secondly, we must try to reopen diplomatic channels; there is no alternative to that, for, whatever this dictator does, one must try to read his behaviour and discern what chances are still open to us. Have all the avenues been closed off whereby North Korea might be brought back to talk to the Six? I do not believe that they have been. Not every avenue has been closed off. It is still possible to make the attempt to get the North Koreans back to the negotiating table.
Difficult though that task might be, it is also clear that it is not merely fortuitous that North Korea should test a nuclear weapon at the same time as South Korea’s foreign minister is elected Secretary-General of the United Nations. We have to read the signs and ask ourselves whether they were shutting the door on us, or whether the action of shutting the door might be seen as an attempt at drawing attention to themselves; I believe the latter to be the case. It is for that reason that we, the Socialist Group in this House, along with the international community of social democrats, take the view that we must, despite everything, carry on with dialogue, quite simply because, at the end of the day, there is no alternative.
Mr Solana, I think that the reactions to date have been level-headed, not least in North Korea’s immediate vicinity; the Japanese government and the governments of the other neighbouring states have, I think, been appropriate. What is not appropriate is a policy of arrogance. Let me remind the House that there was a time when the United States of America, under the Clinton administration, reached agreement with North Korea on energy supply programmes. I would also remind the House that what was known, in the 1990s, as the Kedo programme, was not intended to appease the dictator, but – in so far as possible – to keep the regime on-side. The administration that succeeded Clinton’s put a stop to all these efforts.
Nor do I have any desire to conceal, or make a secret of the fact, that our group sees this as another failure on the part of the United States and an example of its unilateral approach. While that does not excuse what the North Korean dictator is doing, it does indicate that the only way to resolve international conflicts is to bring all the parties together.
The last thing I have to say I say on my own account to all those who always recommend the development of nuclear energy as the solution to the problems of mankind; I would remind them that every nuclear power plant and every enrichment facility that is built becomes, in the hands of a criminal such as the North Korean dictator, something that puts the whole world at incalculable risk."@en1
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