Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-04-06-Speech-3-561-000"
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"en.20110406.33.3-561-000"2
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"on behalf of the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for the speeches.
The creation of truly new funds and, if necessary, funds of new magnitudes, must also be a key part of this review. At the same time, we should not forget that each aspect requires an individual approach. There are countries where the introduction of sanctions or arms embargoes, or, in some cases, military action, has already been unavoidable. As you know, Libya is not the only country in our southern neighbourhood where there is an armed intervention under way; there has also been one in Côte d’Ivoire for a few days now. This will be a separate topic here tonight, and we are yet to talk about this.
However, I believe that these countries, where military intervention has become unavoidable due to civil war, must not be confused with the countries we are discussing now, even though these repressive countries, these authoritarian, repressive countries, are also toying with the use of violence. However, I believe that the High Representative has sent a very strong message to these countries as regards their attitude to violence. And the military action itself, which is taking place in Libya and Côte d’Ivoire, must be a very strong message to these countries, to all three of these countries. In the past few weeks, the European and international community has managed to form a very clear philosophy.
The ‘right to protect’ and ‘the responsibility to protect’ are new principles which have been applied by the international community recently, and which must also be a warning sign to Yemen, Bahrain and everyone, to all authoritarian regimes in the region. What is taking place now, the military interventions, is not an analogy to Iraq, but much more to Rwanda or Kosovo, where the international community had to intervene in order to protect citizens. I believe that the international community is sending out this message very strongly now to countries that use violence against their citizens.
Ladies and gentlemen, the honourable institution that is the European Parliament, allow me to only briefly respond to a few more specific proposals. I will relay your highly unanimous and general proposal for convening a special session of the UN Human Rights Council to the High Representative. This proposition has definitely been a key element in the debate here and one that should be given consideration. Likewise, I will also relay to the High Representative the similarly clear and consensual opinion about arms exports that has been expressed here. I believe that we need to be able to establish a suitable balance between cooperation and sanctions with regard to these three groups of countries.
It is definitely a particular task when it comes not to the application of sanctions and military intervention, but to cooperation and, if necessary, some degree of sanctions with regard to a group of countries. I also consider what Mrs Oomen-Ruijten stated, that the European Union must also be able to rely very strongly on Turkey when forming its policy regarding the region, to be important. Thank you very much for the debates, and thank you very much for the comments, speeches and questions.
Mr President, allow me first to respond specifically to a few questions relating to Bahrain.
The question of Iranian interference in Bahrain’s domestic affairs was raised. There is no hard evidence so far that Iran has been meddling in the Bahraini situation by provoking radicalisation. Clearly this is a risk, and one more good reason to start a national dialogue in Bahrain as soon as possible to avoid that option.
Concerning the Saudi invasion in Bahrain, I would like to underline the fact that the six Gulf Cooperation Council states have a collective security agreement amongst themselves. The presence of Saudi and other Gulf forces in Bahrain was requested in the framework of that agreement and was provided for by more than one GCC Member State. This is not merely a legalistic consideration. We have to take the regional dimension very seriously in our evaluation of developments in this region.
Concerning Yemen, I would point out that the European Union did suspend some assistance to Yemen: for example, its assistance on civilian counter-terrorism. We thought that we needed to have a differentiated approach in this respect.
Allow me to speak now in Hungarian to respond to some questions which have been raised.
Mr Salafranca raised the question of what the result of the transition will be. In this regard, I would like to underline that we do not know what the result of the Arab Spring will be. Nobody knows, and a couple of months ago, we did not even know that such a domino effect could be set in motion. However, I believe that, for the time being, the final outcome of this Arab Spring is not set in stone. I therefore also believe that it will depend to a very great degree on us. This is how I would like to answer Mr Salafranca: the final outcome of this Arab Spring will depend to a very great degree on us, too.
I believe that the proposals put forward here have been very useful, and I believe that both the attending representatives of the Commission and the representatives of the Council and the External Action Service were very pleased to welcome all proposals put forward. We are in the process of reviewing our Neighbourhood Policy, and all proposals that have been put forward here will be integrated in the review of that policy. I therefore believe that it is a very fortunate circumstance that the Eastern Partnership summit in Budapest, which was scheduled for a few weeks from now, will not take place, because this way, we will have time to incorporate the proposals that have been put forward now into the review of the Neighbourhood Policy.
I consider it very important that this Neighbourhood Policy be unified. This Neighbourhood Policy must cover the Eastern Dimension in the same way as the Southern one. And only if we are able to create a unified, coherent, well-thought-out Neighbourhood Policy here, within the European Union, can we be credible in the eyes of our southern neighbours, who are paying keen attention to everything we say. The proposals put forward here in connection with the Neighbourhood Policy – as, for example, by the last speakers here, Mrs Dodds and Mr Rübig – stressed civilian relations. The priority treatment of civilian relations, citizen relations, and especially relations with young people, is among our Neighbourhood Policy ideas."@en1
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