WRITTEN QUESTION P-2815/01 by Giuseppe Di Lello Finuoli (GUE/NGL) to the Council. Afghanistan.
Date: 2001-10-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Afghanistan, EU aid, establishment of peace, frontier region, humanitarian aid, refugee, war

C 134 E/114

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.6.2002

(2002/C 134 E/114)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2815/01

by Giuseppe Di Lello Finuoli (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(3 October 2001)

Subject: Afghanistan

A US military attack on Afghanistan, the Taliban and Bin Laden in response to the criminal terrorist attack
of 11 September in New York and Washington is imminent and is considered to be unavoidable.

This is causing a million and a half Afghans to flee from their country to neighbouring countries. These
countries have already taken in a million other people, all of them desperate and innocent victims, first of
the Russian military intervention, then of Taliban fundamentalism and now of American reprisals.

American bombings, however precisely targeted, will mainly hit the defenceless Afghan people (who do
not have the same shelters or means of defence as Bin Laden and his Taliban protectors) and will only
cause civilian casualties.

The European Union should not try to ease its conscience by simply providing humanitarian aid, the
promise of which in the present circumstances, actually seems like a tacit endorsement of the bombings.

Reiterating our condemnation of all forms of terrorism and our determination to ensure that the life and
dignity of every single human being are respected - in accordance with the recently adopted Charter of
Fundamental Rights of European citizens - we would ask the Council to state what concrete action it
intends to take with respect to the following:

- preventing the bombing of helpless Afghan civilians,

- ensuring that not only Pakistan, but also all the other neighbouring countries, open their borders to

ease the flow of Afghan refugees,

- providing these countries and the refugees with as much financial, food and medical assistance as

possible.

Reply

(14 February 2002)

The Honourable MEP is certainly aware of the recent Council conclusions and statements regarding the
situation in Afghanistan and the fight against terrorism. The European Council, at its meeting in Gent,
reaffirmed its staunchest support for the military operations which began on 7 October and which are
legitimate under the terms of the UN Charter and of Resolution 1 368 of the UN Security Council. The
Council noted that these targeted actions were in accordance with the conclusions of the Extraordinary
European Council meeting on 21.09.2001, and that partners would continue to do everything in their
power to shield civilian population groups.

The European Council also confirmed that humanitarian aid for Afghanistan and the neighbouring
countries remained an absolute priority for the EU. The Community and Member States will make
available, together with other donors, all the humanitarian aid necessary to cover the needs of the Afghan
population and Afghan refugees. As of late October, the total amount of EU humanitarian aid for
Afghanistan for the year 2001 amounts to some € 330 million, which makes the EU one of the most
important donors to the region. (EC: ECHO more than € 50 million, food aid € 28 million, aid to uprooted
people € 22,5 million; Member States: pledges and commitments to NGOs and UN agencies of some € 230
million.)

Finally, the European Council concluded that the EU would embark, together with the international
community and once a stable, legitimate and representative government had emerged in Afghanistan, on a
far-reaching and ambitious programme of political and humanitarian aid for the reconstruction of
Afghanistan with a view to stabilising the region.