Speeches

Speech from Mr Hans-Gert Poettering,
Chairman of the EPP-ED Group,
in the European Parliament
on Wednesday, 12 February 2003

"The EU and NATO face a disaster" - Hans-Gert Poettering speaking in the debate on Iraq




President, President in Office of the Council, Commissioner, Colleagues,

"The European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance are facing a disaster. Europe offers a sorry picture, but every cloud has its silver lining, so we shouldn't say that the common foreign security policy has no purpose. It has failed but we need to redouble our endeavours so that we have a genuinely common foreign security and defence policy. At the basis of that we need a clear analysis. The analysis is such that the problem is Saddam Hussein who is in charge of a terrorist regime which condones terror, crime and death. His country is a rich country but it is being plundered by his dictatorship. Anyone who looks at the problem or lays the problem at the door of the USA is confusing things. The problem lies at the door of the dictator. Our Group is of the opinion that weapons of mass destruction in Saddam Hussein's hands are a danger to peace in the world and to the region. Disarmament must take place in the context of the UN, if it can't be done peacefully, then a military action will have to be taken. The responsibility for it being done peacefully or by means of a military action is the responsibility of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi dictator.

"You have to remember the chronology of events. The core of European and North Atlantic unity is the self-isolation of Germany, because of the action taken by the Federal German Chancellor Schröder. The Federal German Chancellor during the election campaign for whatever reason he had decided to put Germany into an isolated position and said that regardless of what the UN does we will never go along with it. He took pressure off Saddam Hussein and he acted in a anti-European way, because he should have talked about this with Europe first before going to the press. Then this was all repeated once again in the Lander elections but here he was not so successful in the elections.

"Now we are confronted with the question of how to proceed in the future. I would recommend that we should think this over very carefully. We have to think about our relationship with the USA. If we see Europe's unity as a counterweight to the United States of America then we are building Europe on a basis of sand. We want a partnership between the European Union and the United States of America based on equal cooperation and partnership on both sides. Of course we have demands and expectations for our American partners. We do not think it is correct of the Bush Administration to see America's relationship with Europe in a bilateral way between Washington and Rome, Washington and Madrid, and Washington and London and so on. We have to define this relationship in such a way that we Europeans take common action. The European Institutions are the negotiation partners of the American Administration. The lack of European unity has consequences for the North Atlantic Alliance. The American Administration, President Bush, recognises that the unity of Europe is a value which is in the interest of the USA as well.

"Just imagine a common position adopted by Paris-Berlin-Moscow on the one hand and on the other hand, we would have London-Rome-Madrid-Washington together. It would be a dreadful consequence, if Europe was to take such an approach. This is why we have to act in a community framework. Everything we do now has to be done on community level. This is why our Group supports your decision to hold a special summit for Heads of State and Government.

"On Turkey, if our Turkish partner demand or ask us to make weapons of defence available to them, if they ask for that, then I think we can not reject such a request. I hope that we will be able to find a solution to this as well.

"I wish the Presidency in Office to achieve three things. The common position should be achieved, so that we close this deep abyss between us and the USA and build a bridge across it. We send a message to the Iraqi dictator that he has to disarm, and that this hopefully will happen in a peaceful way under the context of the UN."

(Summary translation from the original German)