Germany tries to justify its attitude on Libya
(BRUSSELS2) EU Foreign Affairs Council) German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle tried today (21 March) to justify Germany's position on military action in Libya, on the sidelines of the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
First argument. No, "we are not isolated" on the international and European scene, he pleaded on several occasions. " We abstained at the United Nations (Nb: on resolution 1973) not only with Russia and China, but also with great democracies like India and Brazil ". And within the EU, we are not isolated, he explained. Poland and many other small countries - whose names he refused to mention "so as not to embarrass them" - share German doubts.
Second argument. Yes we have " reason to have fears for civilians and the risk of going beyond the framework set by UN resolution 1973. In 72 hours of operation, these doubts were expressed to the Arab League, the UN, the African Union, we explain on the German side. A high-ranking diplomat quoting some of the words of Amr Moussa and Ban Ki Moon. And it is dangerous to disregard the opinion of Turkey, which has significant economic and political weight and is a bridge between Europe and the Arab world.
Third argument. Military action should be coordinated in "NATO" and not in a willing coalition.
The only concession is humanitarian action. Yes " it is the role of the European Union to ensure this ". What seems to release, at least, a certain way of consensus among the 27, whose unit seems hard tested to listen to the Germans who decided, apparently, not to be seen like a sleeping partner in the EU.
In off, the German officials are very hard on the French attitude which they accuse of a lone rider. It can be noted that these criticisms spare the United States, which nevertheless leads the operations and commands them from its two bases in Germany (Stuttgart for the operation and Ramstein for the air).
