Speech from Mr Hans-Gert Poettering,
Chairman of the EPP-ED Group,
in the European Parliament
on Wednesday, 24 April 2002

Situation in the Middle-East and the meeting of Euro-Mediterranean Foreign Ministers in Valencia, 22/23 April 2002

(Translation from the original German - Provisional)

President, Commissioner, President in Office,

"The applause for Commissioner Patten has made it perfectly clear that this situation, no matter how dramatic and hopeless it may seem, can never be allowed to place us in a position where we stop speaking to one another. If we do stop speaking to one another, then only guns will speak. Therefore it was important for this debate to take place here today on the Euro-Mediterranean Dialogue. I would like most explicitly to express my heartfelt thanks to the Spanish Presidency for their commitment. This Mediterranean Dialogue despite the shocking events in the Middle-East has probably never been as important as it is now. Today we are in great danger, that we could see a clash of civilisations. That clash could yet occur, if we start building walls in our own heads. Therefore it must be our task in these days and in the future to carry on this dialogue of cultures, the one we are now starting. I am appalled when I hear, that we have this foundation that is being proposed to set up a dialogue between cultures, which I welcome, but then on the other hand, all that we seem to be willing to give is just one million Euro. It may even be that we won't give them that!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

"In these weeks and months as we wait for enlargement of the European Union our face is turned to the East. It is important for it to be turned to the South as well, where there are problems that are probably so much greater than those that do exist in Eastern Europe. While it is true, that there are less miles between Algiers and Paris than there are between Warsaw and Paris, then that should make it clear to us, that the Middle East, the near East and North Africa are of great significance to us as Europeans. With the countries of North Africa and of the Mediterranean basin we must have a real strategic partnership, as well as an economic, financial, social, and cultural partnership.

"Of course the fight against terrorism is important, we are all in favour of it, but our dialogue with the Arab and Islamic world can not be narrowed down just to that single issue of terrorism, it must be a dialogue that covers all political, economic, financial and cultural issues too. We have to do far more than we have ever done in the past. Of course it is important to have an Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly. We have been demanding this, we have been calling for it, but we must assure our responsibilities as Europeans and Members of the European Parliament, and we won't be doing that, if we simply think that we have done our job just by creating an assembly of that kind. It is my impression, that these countries will only live in security, peace and democracy if we can create jobs there. The Commissioner mentioned this, 40 million jobs are needed in the Mediterranean basin. If that doesn't happen, then young people will continue to get into these little boats and cross the Mediterranean, 7.000 people from Morocco alone die every year by trying getting to Spain and Portugal. This is why we must make a success of development in these countries, and above all we must ensure that their economies are privatised, that small businesses are giving a chance to create jobs, and that we can get rid of illiteracy in the cities of North Africa. This is one of the most important requirements for people's development, for self improvement and for the protection of human rights.

"These are issues, that we have discussed quite heatedly in our own Group, because these are difficult and important issues. What we must say first and foremost, this eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth policy will not work. If it continues there will never be peace in the Middle-East. Therefore it is only right, that the Israeli troops are now withdrawing. But at the same time, it is a crime to convince young people to strap dynamite around their waist and then go off and kill themselves and other people with them. We must put things right on both sides, the Israeli and Palestinian side. We must say to our American friends, they can't create peace on their own, of course they have to make a very important contribution, but the Palestinians have more faith in us than in the Americans. Of course the Americans have to be there too because of Israel, but for that reason too, we bear a great responsibility in that part of the world.

"We must hope that the Palestinians and the Israelis and the international community, that all of us strengthen our efforts to ensure that at last we have peace in the Middle-East, so that there can be a good future for the people in those countries, for us in Europe, for all of the Mediterranean basin, so Israel and Palestine can co-exist within determined and safe borders and that will be better for the human rights in the Middle-East."