EU

A year ago when we met in the General Assembly, we joined our voices to deplore the fact that the Syrian civil war had claimed over 25,000 lives. One year on, it has killed over 100,000 men, women and children. The number of refugees, which stood at 250,000 in September 2012, doubled by December that year, then doubled again by March, and then it doubled again. Today, there are 2 million Syrians outside their country, half of them children, and under current trends, their number is close to doubling again, and there may be 3.5 million refugees before the year is over. We cannot let this spiral of criminal, sectarian violence pursue its dreadful course at the heart of the world’s most unstable region. What will the situation be when we meet again next year? Any further paralysis of the international community over Syria is simply untenable. It was already true this summer, but worse was yet to come. Five weeks ago in the outskirts of Damascus, there was a new threshold of tragedy, a crime against humanity, and in response the stakes were raised. Today we are in a new situation. The European Union welcomes the diplomatic opening created in order to control and destroy Syria’s chemical weapons. It is important in itself. We absolutely must avoid a dreadful precedent being set on the use of chemical weapons — an abhorrent crime against humanity. The role of the United Nations in this respect is indispensable and has been underscored time and again by the 28 Governments of the European Union. Following the Secretary-General’s report and the inventory of its arsenal provided by the Syrian regime, it is urgent for the Security Council, together with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, to take the necessary decisions to ensure the swift and secure destruction of Syria’s stocks of poison gas and nerve agents. A clear resolution of the Security Council would mark a turn, and I plea for its adoption. Eliminating Syria’s chemical arsenal is in itself a major step. Potentially, it could also be important for the wider dynamics in the region. Clearly, the conflict wrecking Syria reflects many of the deep- seated tensions rippling throughout the Middle East. It is fed by these tensions and fuels them as well. So a solution for Syria will need to take the wider picture into account. That is why any political opening matters deeply; a breakthrough on chemical weapons could start opening other doors. In the black wall of Syria’s doom, it will be a first crack. Paradoxically, there is more scope for quiet hope today than there was even a few weeks ago. Because if commitments can be upheld and promises kept on chemical weapons, if lines of communication can reopen, if we can find an agreement within the international community and at the Security Council — if we can do all this on chemical weapons, then chances are we can do it elsewhere. There must be ways to open up opportunities. But when new opportunities arise, we must seize them. Only then will we see the outlook improve for Syria. Now is indeed the moment to work actively towards the “Geneva II” conference. The international community must fully engage with all available diplomatic means. The first priority is to bring all parties to the negotiating table. Those close to Damascus and those close to the Syrian opposition must do all within their power to draw each side to the table. The European Union is ready to provide all support needed to achieve a political settlement. Elsewhere in the region too, new opportunities must and can be seized, not least in the Middle East peace process, where prospects for progress look better than they have for some time. All parties are returning to the negotiating table with renewed seriousness. For the European Union, the parameters are clear. Palestine and  Israel must be able to fulfil their legitimate aspirations as two States living side by side in peace and security. Now both parties must seize the moment. We also hope that the expectations currently building around the new Iranian leadership will translate into concrete steps in the interest of regional stability and for the nuclear talks, where all efforts to find a negotiated solution, through the work of the E3+3 led by High Representative Catherine Ashton, have the European Union’s full support. Both these developments — with Israel and Palestine and with Iran — can be mutually reinforcing with what is currently happening around Syria; there, all must be done to forge the path to a political solution. Once the “Geneva II” conference starts, we have to be honest with ourselves. It will not be easy — ending a war never is. It will require political will and a real sense of compromise. But we must recognize that the cost of hesitating, of not engaging, would be much higher, and not only for the people of Syria. Every day counts. With every day of unforgivable violence, bitterness and trauma go deeper, radicalization and warlordism gain ground, hatred and despair win. Every day, reconciliation in Syria and around Syria becomes harder. We in Europe know that reconciliation is the hardest thing. The countries of our continent agreed to live peacefully together only after many wars, and many civil wars, with huge numbers of victims — a price we never want others to have to pay. And we know reconciliation is even harder inside a country than between countries. No longer waging war is one thing; living again together is quite another. Syria — as a country and a nation — is being destroyed beyond recognition. It will take time, courage and perseverance to build an inclusive, united, democratic Syria, where all Syrians can feel they belong and where all share a common future regardless of their identity and regardless of their religion. The promise of the Arab Spring must be met in Syria too, just as it must in Egypt and beyond. At heart, it is a shared yearning for democracy, for tolerance, for social justice — a powerful message in which we still believe. But on this long path, the Syrians will need all the help they can get, just as others before, including we in Europe, received support when mending their nations. The United Nations can play an important role in helping the country to re-establish unity and in helping Syria eventually find justice and ensuring that there is no impunity and that individual perpetrators of war crimes are held accountable. We Europeans are ready to play our part in helping Syria to rebuild its nation, just as we are engaged today on the ground in the humanitarian effort in Syria and in the countries to which refugees have flown, not least in Lebanon and Jordan, where the situation is extremely worrying. Our countries and institutions are working closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to bring food, protection and shelter, as well as medical help and education. By far the biggest aid provider for Syria, jointly we have already provided €1.8 billion — some $2.4 billion — and we know that more will be needed. (spoke in French) We do so because Europe is ready to continue to play its role in the world. To many countries, whether in Africa, Latin America or Asia or from the Mediterranean to the Caspian, the European Union is a faithful partner in development, peace and security, for the Millennium Development Goals and world propserity through open trade. We are a strong partner in the fight against the extremism and barbarism of which the events in Kenya, Pakistan and Iraq are recent and tragic manifestations. Despite the financial crisis that is testing our economies, we do not disengage from our responsibilities in the world. Despite the crisis, we have maintained all European funding for development and humanitarian action in our common European budget, even as we reduce its size. Despite the crisis, we maintain our political and financial commitment against climate change in Europe and the world, and we will lend our full support to the international conference in Paris in 2015. Indeed, despite the crisis, the European Union launched no fewer than five new European civilian or military missions over the past two years aimed at supporting reconstruction in Mali and South Sudan and re-establishing security in the Sahel and along Libya’s borders and off the coast of Somalia. Moreover, in 2013 we renewed operational mandates in Afghanistan, Georgia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In crisis and conflict areas, the European presence on the ground is composed of doctors, paramedics, agronomists and engineers; it also includes magistrates and police and military personnel — men and women who assist their local counterparts in efforts to stabilize  a country, re-establish order and the rule of law, restore the sense of justice and build confidence in the future. (spoke in English) Europe is not disengaging, despite the economic difficulties that the past few years have brought. The global financial crisis, which started in this very city five years ago, shook Europe and brought forth global imbalances that we have worked hard to address. We are putting our house in order and expect others to do so too. Internal imbalances need to be corrected and structural reforms pursued in countries all across the globe. For us, the results are starting to show. Today the eurozone is in better financial shape than 12 months ago. The existential threat to the euro area is over, and we are now focusing fully on improving prospects for employment and growth. We have launched far- reaching efforts, focused on the long term. It will take time before results show, in terms of strong economic growth and jobs, but once they start doing so, as they are now, they will be longer lasting. Next year, economic growth is projected for all but one of our 28 countries. Our political will to preserve Europe’s unity cannot be underestimated — we have shown it over the past five years — for, ultimately, it is a political project that unites us: to bring together countries; to bring together people. (spoke in French) In the month of September 2013, here in New York, the international community can and must make a comeback. It is our common responsibility, shared by all of us present here today, to translate the positive signs into concrete progress for peace and prosperity. I therefore call for negotiation, dialogue and the conclusion of international agreements based on the conviction — which is at the very foundation of this Organization — that international political progress happens through the free exchange of ideas among countries. That holds true for Syria, with regard to both chemical weapons and the “Geneva II” conference. It holds true for the Middle East peace process and for the nuclear talks with Iran. But it also holds true for all the other great global challenges. It is from here in New York that a new momentum can and must emerge for the important upcoming global meetings on climate change, in Warsaw in November, on free trade in Bali in December, or on financial regulation at the Group of 20 in Brisbane next year. To exchange words that bring about action is itself an act of hope, and it is precisely hope that we need. Hope is in our hands.