Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-19-Speech-3-019"
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"en.20081119.3.3-019"2
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"Mr President, there is little point in discussing today how tragic we find the desperate situation in eastern Congo. We should be able to call a spade a spade and, of course, ask the question whether Europe, and particularly countries such as France and Belgium, who have especially evil reputations in that region, should intervene in a military sense. To me, the answer is no, for what have we noticed? In Congo, Europe has managed to prove once more how divided and how weak it is and what an illusion it would be to think that a common foreign and security policy would be possible at this stage. Indeed, let us remind ourselves that Paris, the current Presidency of the Council no less, has just had the head of protocol of Rwandan President Kagame arrested in Germany for the attempted murder of President Habyarimana in 1994. He is seen as an involved party in the conflict. Even my own country, Belgium, is disingenuous since, only yesterday, the Belgian Foreign Affairs Minister, Karel De Gucht, heaped heavy criticism on the policy of European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Louis Michel, precisely on account of the latter’s policy in relation to Congo. I quote Karel De Gucht: ‘If the present situation in Congo is the result of Michel’s policy, then this is quite something. The situation has never been as distressing as it is now.’
Ladies and gentlemen, these words were spoken by one of the Commissioner’s political allies. In this cacophony, we can only conclude that the protection of the civil population should, in the first place, be the responsibility of the African Union, which must be supported, and of the UN Mission in Congo. Europe would therefore do well not to send its own troops to that region."@en1
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