Spanish Foreign Policy, Middle East, North America and Mediterranean: briefing

Meeting report

FOREIGN AFFAIRS PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
4 June 2003
BRIEFING ON DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATION, SPANISH FOREIGN POLICY, MIDDLE EAST, NORTH AMERICA AND MEDITERRANEAN

Chairperson: Dr ZP Jordan

SUMMARY
The Spokesman for the Popular Party in the Commission of Foreign Affairs stated that it was committed to ensuring peace and stability in the Middle East, the Latin America and the Mediterranean. Spain is serious about strengthening its relations with South Africa. He warned against associating Muslims with terrorism. There is a need of reforming and strengthening both the UN and the EU.

MINUTES
Dialogue of Civilisation, Spanish Policy and Related Matters
Mr Aristequi, Spokesman for the Popular Party in the Commission on Foreign Affairs briefed the Committee on the dialogue of civilization, Spanish foreign policy and related matters.
With regard to the Mediterranean region he said that Spain was an active participant and protagonist for political change in the area. It was the intention of the Spanish government to enhance and consolidate stability in that region. Spain would help the region attain their goals of political and democratic reform. The money that the government of Spain had allocated towards this cause would be increased.

Mr Aristequi noted that the Middle East was making headlines each and everyday. He indicated that there would be a meeting in Jordaan in the near future to address the conflicts in the area. He hoped that the road map designed would see the light. Spain was actively involved in the peace process in the region.

There is a need to reconstruct Europe. Spain was very much involved in strengthening the Trans-Atlantic region giving rise to a belief that Spain had forsaken Europe. He said that Spain remains European and is very much committed to Europe. He noted that there is a challenge of enlarging the EU. He furthermore indicated that the EU institutions and their balance need to be redesigned. He alluded to the fact that there was a directly elected EU parliament with no sufficient powers. The EU Court of Justice also needed more powers to be effective.

With regard to Latin-America the presenter said that Spain was one of the first countries to give independence to former Latin-American colonies. Spain and its former colonies remained very much related. Spain was very much worried about the rise of populism and hidden dictatorship in some of the Latin-American countries. Venezuela had one of the best and advanced constitutions enabling multiparty democracy but still had problems of instability. Spain had huge interests in the region. He said that the Spanish government's intention was to help and not exploit the countries.

Mr Aristequi said that his government also had new priorities. He said that his visit to South Africa was indicative of this. He praised South Africa for its transition to democracy. He said that he was aware of the growing number of Spanish tourists in South Africa.

With regard to the dialogue of civilisation the presenter said that Spain had a Jewish and Muslim past. He said that Spain had been one of the homelands for Jews. This past gave Spain a positive approach to the dialogue of civilization. In the attack of America in 11 September 2001 some countries began to feel that democratic countries faced the risk of international terrorism. He indicated that international terrorism has been hitting even the undemocratic countries. He cautioned against confusing firm believers of one of the most popular religions with terrorists.

Lastly, the presenter said that Spain sees South Africa not only as a regional leader but also as a world leader. There was a need for a greater balance in the UN Security Council. He indicated that South Africa was a good permanent member of the Security Council.

Discussion
Dr B Geldenhuys (NNP) asked if there was a way of resolving the Basque problem. Has the Batasuna Party been banned?

Mr Aristequi said that secessionist sentiments still existed in the Basque country. It was acceptable for people to fight for independence through peaceful means. He resented the use of terrorism to achieve political goals. With regard to the banning of the Batasuna Party he said that the ideas of the party were not banned. He said that what was banned was the structure supporting terrorism through democratic means.

Ms F Hajaij asked the presenter to air his views on multilateralism and the role of the UN. She also enquired if Spain was doing anything to assist the people in West Sahara.

Mr Aristequi said that Spain firmly supported the UN. With regard to the disregard of the UN by the coalition, he said that the British memorandum had six points, five of which were in the Security Council Resolution. He found it difficult to understand how the memorandum was unacceptable to some countries whilst acceptable to the UN. He said that the world should not have mini poles of confrontation. He felt that the UN needed to be reformed.

With regard to the West Sahara issue he indicated that Spain was a coloniser in that region. He said that Spain would support any solution that would be acceptable to all parties. Peace and stability of Morocco was a priority for Spain. Spain would be supportive of UN measures to achieve peace in the region.

Mr W Makanda (UDM) said that he viewed the US decision to unilaterally invade Iraq in a very serious light. He said that he was saying this against the backdrop of the US policy, which seemed to be "you are either with or against us". He expressed concern over the fact that the US had disregarded an institution that it helped create. He also opined that by associating with the US Spain had endorsed disregard of multilateralism.

Mr Aristequi said that the UN had failed many times in the past as a result of countries vetoing each other. He did not believe that the US's unilateral decision to invade Iraq in anyway rendered the UN impotent. He emphasised the need for a strong UN. However, he said that at the moment the UN structures and instruments render it impotent in some instances.

Mr A Mokoena (ANC) asked if Spain had any guilty conscious about the war in Iraq. Did the presenter not believe that crushing the UN had created a void? Spain did what it had to do under the circumstances. Saddam Hussein had killed too many people in Iraq. Recently mass graves had been found in Iraq. He said now all countries had to concentrate on reforming the UN. His country acted under strict legality in terms of the international law. Iraq had failed to comply with various UN resolutions since 1991.

Mr J Sithole (ANC) said that he thought that after having said that Saddam had used weapons of mass destruction against his own people, the presenter would go further to say that such weapons were supplied by the very forces that sought to topple his regime. He observed that the US had used Saddam Hussein to achieve its own goals and now that he was no longer of use to them they decided to dump him. To date no weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq. He also alluded to the fact that the British Prime Minister and the US president were constantly under pressure from their ministers to come up with the weapons they believed existed in Iraq.

Mr Aristequi said that the biggest supplier of weapons or parts of weapons of mass destruction were countries that opposed the war. He did not deny the fact that US supplied some weapons to Iraq. Mobile laboratories had since been found in Iraq indicating that some weapons were being manufactured. He also said that inspectors who went to Iraq before 1998 indicated that they were under pressure from Iraq not to find the weapons.

Mr J Sithole (ANC) asked the presenter to comment on the Israel Palestine conflict.

The presenter said that Spain could not be in favour of one party to the conflict. Most people in Spain supported Palestine. The government of Spain took a balanced view of the situation. He indicated that it would be great to see the two sides living side by side in peace. This would contribute to stability of the whole region.

Dr Jordan remarked that the national independence of every country needed to be respected. He said that as a small country South Africa was concerned about unipolarism and the US hegemony. He encouraged respect for international law. He asked the presenter to forgive members for suspecting the US's motives in Iraq and the Middle East.

The meeting was adjourned.