Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-09-04-Speech-4-206"
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"en.20080904.22.4-206"2
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"Mr President, for several months Mauritania has been experiencing a tense political situation, opposing a large section of the Parliament to the President of Mauritania. On 6 August 2008, following the dismissal by President Adallahi of several army chiefs, the military reacted by carrying out a swift and bloodless coup d’état. At present, the elected President remains imprisoned in a guest villa. It should be noted that the Prime Minister has also been arrested, while other institutions, such as the elected Parliament, have not been affected.
Finally, there are two important projects: one is a European Development Fund project that is ongoing (value: EUR 4.5 million) for civil society support, and the other is planned support for democracy and human rights investment (value: EUR 300 000). These would probably be continued in the case of a partial freeze of cooperation. So, at the moment, we are at the stage where we think that the Cotonou Agreement must be invoked and ‘96’ consultations have to be taken, and then we will see.
Three years ago, on 3 August 2005, these same generals – at the time colonels – had carried out a similar take-over against the 20-year-old regime of Colonel Ould Taya, himself in power following a coup.
The recent take-over, nevertheless, is radically different from the one in 2005 that brought to an end a dictatorial regime and resulted in an exemplary transition to democracy strongly supported, politically and financially, by the European Union. This transition, through a series of free and fair elections, had brought into power the first democratically elected institutions in Mauritania, whose functioning must still be improved.
From the first day of the coup, our position has been clear. Commissioner Michel firmly condemned the coup and requested the release and reinstatement of President Abdallahi, as well as a quick return to constitutional rule. The whole international community followed with a very similar stance.
The latest decisions taken by the military junta – the self-proclaimed ‘High Council of State’ – to formalise the take-over and nominate a new prime minister and government are now a series of steps in the wrong direction, going against the demands of the international community.
This coup, I think, represents a serious and evident breach of the essential elements of the Cotonou Agreement regarding democratic principles and the rule of law. Therefore, on 2 September 2008, the Commission adopted a Communication to the Council on the opening of consultations with Mauritania under Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement.
On the basis of the results of the consultations, appropriate measures will be proposed. However, considering the potential negative impact that measures could have on the population, we still hope that an acceptable solution will be found without the necessity to isolate such a strategically important country, as many of you have said.
Meanwhile, we will continue to follow developments in Mauritania, while fully supporting the efforts of the African Union to re-establish constitutional rule in the country.
Now, let me comment briefly on two questions. It is too early at this stage to go into any details of appropriate actions to be taken on particular projects or areas of cooperation. I think we should wait for the results of the Cotonou Article 96 consultations, and it would also be good, Ms Isler Béguin, to wait for a delegation to go there. The Cotonou Article 96 consultations have to be started first."@en1
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