Mr President, on behalf of the Socialist Group, I would like to say a few words on the foreign policy decisions taken in Stockholm. Last weekend, we all witnessed the television reports and the tension surrounding former President Milosevic’s arrest. Our Group, undoubtedly like many others here, welcomes this arrest with open arms. We also have a great deal of respect for the way in which the authorities of the former republic of Yugoslavia handled this matter. It must have been an extremely difficult situation to deal with. There was a great deal of tangible tension. The fact that this step was ultimately taken indicates that another move has been made towards more integration within our law-based community, also here in Europe. At the same time, our wish remains, of course, to ultimately see Mr Milosevic brought before the International War Tribunal in The Hague. We assume, as before, that the European Union will keep the pressure on in that respect and that the International War Tribunal will ultimately be the place where he will face his final reckoning. At the same time, we have seen a great deal of tension, probably more than some of us had expected, in FYROM’s border regions. We have to say that, for all the problems in the past, we still have a great deal of respect for the way in which Mr Patten and Mr Solana dealt with the situation there, in tandem with the Swedish Presidency. Needless to say, the early warning systems are still not fully functioning. We probably could have reacted more promptly in a number of areas. The consultation structures are not yet completely in place either, but we certainly have more tools at our disposal than before. We are better able to operate in those regions, and we are seeing the first signs of a common foreign policy, something which we would very much like to promote further. Once again, the Association Agreement too could be an excellent tool in this respect. Here in Parliament, we are ready to adopt this agreement as quickly as possible, and we want to encourage everything which can make progress possible in this respect. With regard to the Middle East, the Ministers Perez and Nabil Shaath of the Palestinian Authority are supposed to meet in Athens today. In actual fact, violence increases with each passing day, while we would like to return to the old agreements, which, at the very least, ensure that both parties keep their own troops in check, and retrace our steps in terms of violence. The UN resolutions, the Oslo agreements: it is as if some things no longer exist, and both parties operate in a very irresponsible manner. We hope that Moratinos, our representative, in conjunction with Mr Solana and the Swedish Presidency, succeed at least in bringing those parties around the negotiating table once more, for there is no other alternative. Either we talk and negotiate – which will bring the things which were discussed in Camp David, as well as the different possibilities, back on the negotiating table – or we end up in a situation where this spiral of violence, from which so many of the extreme factions on both sides stand to benefit, is given a chance to develop. This brings me to my third point. We are pleased that the Swedish Presidency has managed to bring the northern dimensions as a whole back to the fore once again. St Petersburg has been mentioned. This is a crucial point for us. You have relations and contacts there which provide extra opportunities. Which brings me to my final point. The Swedish Presidency has, traditionally, always played a very clear role, not as the Swedish Presidency, but as Sweden in the UN Security Council. It is evident that during the Bush administration, the cowards of this world threaten to change their course again. It is important that Europe in this respect – Mr Barón Crespo has actually said this on behalf of our Group – adopt its own, self-assured role. Not so much an anti-stance: we should not fall back on old patterns. It is a ‘global village’, and we rely on global partnership. In that respect, a unilateral withdrawal from Kyoto cannot be accepted. This is also true of the unilateral withdrawal of the United States in other respects, such as in the field of rocket defence systems. As Europe, we must counter this with intelligent, partnership-focused policy, and I expect that the Swedish Presidency, together with our former fellow MEP, Mr Schori from the Security Council on behalf of the Swedish Presidency, can play an excellent role in this matter.

Political group: PSE