Mr President, the outbreaks of conflict which are causing such suffering in the Ituri region are yet again giving us cause to regret that our plenary debates on Africa are mere verbal condemnations, regrets and formal resolutions about these instances of extreme violence and the terrible toll they are exacting. This time it is Ituri that has fallen prey to an upsurge in uncontrolled barbarism which is tearing apart the Dark Continent, and in particular the Great Lakes region, while the Western media look on in silence. Next time, next session, which other region among these African countries – which are, in spite of everything, rich countries, perhaps too rich in their misfortunes – will be giving us cause to lament? Of course, the lack of democracy and of inter-ethnic dialogue is blatantly obvious in most of the African Continent. The bases for social and economic development and for the establishment of democracy are being eroded by corrupt and clannish governments, supported, in most cases, by Western democracies with vested interests and by our industrial companies. All too often the health and education systems are reduced to the enrolling of the very young into local militias. However, it would be too easy to stigmatise these local regimes, or to let cultural or continental determinism lead us to accept as inevitable the fate of the hundreds of millions of people who still survive on the Dark Continent. Yet again I have to repeat myself before the European Parliament in order to emphasise the European Union’s great weight, resources and capacity to act. The Community has an enormous amount of room to manoeuvre regarding the misery caused by local regimes and militias. It has enormous human resources at its disposal. It should not be difficult for a Union with 380 million citizens to mobilise the necessary forces to secure a sub-continent, a country and, even more so, a region. It has enormous financial resources: the creation of the basic infrastructures necessary for the development of these countries is an essential element in bringing to an end the era of conflict. It has enormous resources in terms of medical and hospital aid, and in terms of political and institutional transitional advice, the key features being, on the one hand, primary care and, on the other, the hope of lasting peace. We need to do all of this if we, in the European Union of which we are so proud, and which has rallied the hearts of our neighbours to the East and served as an example to Africa in establishing its African Union, are not to shut ourselves away, in our own little enclave of well-being, sheltered from the torments of the rest of the world. If the European Union, with its resources, with its weight, or as a member of the United Nations, does not take action, what can we expect of the African Union, or what message can we send to it? We can at least listen to the committed and pro-active voice of South Africa’s President Mbeki, urging support for peace and for the courageous efforts being undertaken by Angola and by those countries which have experienced at first hand the violence and the damaging effects of inter-ethnic atrocities Closer to home, the crisis in Srebrenica has shown us that modern barbarianism is not something that is relegated to other continents. Let us hope that the painful example of Yugoslavia, which is imprinted in our common and Community memory, will give us the necessary impetus to enable us to take massive and immediate action in the Ituri region. Otherwise, how can we say afterwards, to the families and descendants of those who have died in this region, ‘We did not know, we could not do anything’?

Political group: Verts-ALE