Mr President, the events of the past few months in Fiji are not an isolated incident. They are more than the sum-total of a crazed, racist businessman, a disloyal army, the interests of timber merchants, and politicians who accept that the democratically enacted constitution has been invalidated. The events have everything to do with the relationship between people and state in general and with the history of Fiji and the composition of its population in particular. European colonialism caused workers from other parts of the then British colonial empire to move to Fiji, as a result of which the 44% of people of Indian origin have now started to form a near-majority of the population. The original Fijian population has never had a say in the matter but has meanwhile been faced with the reality that the composition of the population has changed beyond recognition. Descendants of those newcomers rightly feel that they are a part of the established population of the group of islands, with equal rights, whilst a large section of the original population still struggles to come to terms with this new status quo. The situation is in many ways comparable to that in Surinam, Guyana, Trinidad and South Africa. Indeed, European colonialism brought peoples of very different origins together in those regions too. The peoples involved had nothing in common in terms of language, culture and religion and there are also striking differences in their appearance. They very often live as closed groups juxtaposed to one another within the same territory, but largely in separate settlements and urban areas. In these countries, there have often been harsh clashes between these peoples. Sometimes, part of such a group believes it is superior, but often the clashes are about the ruthless protection of interests and the distribution of goods in short supply among competing groups. These competitors need the same land, the same jobs and the same houses, whilst everything is in short supply. In South Africa, this situation even led to an atrocious system of inequality and oppression, referred to as apartheid. Meanwhile, the people of such countries have come to the conclusion that all people are equal and that they have no choice other than to join forces. But this does not take away the fact that closed groups continue to live side by side without real integration. Politicians and adventurers who wish to set peoples against each other still have plenty of scope. That is the key difference compared with the current states in Europe. The latter are generally united with one people, one common history, one language and more or less one culture. This is true of old countries, such as the Netherlands, Denmark and Portugal but is also true of relatively new countries such as Poland, Italy, Germany and Romania or of very new ones, including the Czech Republic, Slovenia or Lithuania. Precisely because these countries are incontrovertibly linked to the people who live there as a large majority, they can be open to minorities and newcomers and maintain their democracy. But in European countries, too, there are unpleasant recollections of former newcomers who came as soldiers, robbers and privileged groups of businessmen and who put the people at a disadvantage. Very often, people these days would prefer to see the descendants of these newcomers leave their country or else wish that they had completely adapted. From our European perspective, we recognise the right of the Israeli and Palestinian states to exist side by side, as was illustrated once again very clearly this week during the remarkable visit of the presidents of both parliaments. It is impossible to live there in peace in one state but people can quite easily co-exist as good neighbours. Fair enough, Europe is to blame and should help solve the problems. But that does not take away the fact that the situation which has arisen in Fiji is completely unacceptable. The equal rights of the large Indian minority, the constitution and parliamentary democracy must be restored. Those who use racism to their advantage must be punished and at least be excluded from political power, the refugees must be able to return home, and violence must come to an end. The multi-racial constitution of 1997, which came about following a previous coup d’état after lengthy negotiations, must be restored without delay.

Political group: GUE-NGL