Paris, 18 February 2005. – Responding to an address by the EU High Representative and WEU Secretary-General Javier Solana at the 41st Munich Conference on Security Policy, in the session on “Security in the Middle East: New Challenges for NATO and EU”, parliamentarians called for immediate EU support for the Palestinians and more extensive European involvement in the reconstruction of Iraq. The other guest speakers at this session were NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and German Defence Minister Peter Struck.
Assembly President Stef Goris took the view that it was vital to keep the recently agreed ceasefire between the Israelis and Palestinians in order to pave the way for further steps towards a lasting peace. He asked Mr Solana whether he thought EU member states were ready to make an immediate contribution towards improving the capabilities of the Palestinian security forces. Elmar Brok, Chairman of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, underlined how important it was for the newly-elected Palestinian President Mahmut Abbas soon to be able to show his people real social and economic progress under his government. The EU should provide the necessary help immediately. He agreed with President Goris that the level of the projects foreseen so far was insufficient. The current opportunity had to be seized right now, at the risk of losing some funds due to the imperfections that continued to exist within the Palestinian administration.
 

Mr Solana replied that the EU already had a number of experts on the ground who could achieve immediate results.

In response to Mr Solana’s comments about EU support for the reconstruction of Iraq, Pierre Lellouche, President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, said that offering help with drafting the Iraqi constitution was not enough. With a view to US President George Bush’s forthcoming visit to Brussels Europeans should consider increasing their involvement and preparing to offer more in order not to disappoint US expectations.

Mr Solana − doubtless with reference to the Council’s imminent decision to launch an integrated rule-of-law mission in Iraq − replied that the assistance with the drafting of the Constitution was only one of the measures being proposed by the EU. He added that the EU had discussed the level of support it proposed to offer with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her recent visit.