Interview of Federica MOGHERINI, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the EC, on external issues of the EC&nbsp;during the EP Plenary session (18-21/01) in Strasbourg.

Strasbourg

MOGHERINI, Federica (IT, EC)

interview

Interview of Federica MOGHERINI, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the EC on external issues of the EC

SOUNDBITE (English), Federica MOGHERINI, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the EC, The fact that France decided to invoke the article 42.7, something we discussed just the hours after the attack in Paris last year, and it was an important political step, because for the first time a member state uses an article of the treaty that has some obligation for the other member states of assistance and aid, not only a military one, but also a logistical support or other kind of support that naturally member states gave to France, in this case to respond to an armed attack. And in this there is a role that the Eu is playing, through our military structures, to accompany the process and make sure that things are done in a proper way.

SOUNDBITE (English), Federica MOGHERINI, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the EC, We do have 17 EU missions and operations around the world already, so we do have a capacity out there already, but there are articles of the treaty that we can use even more, and this is an example of that.

SOUNDBITE (French), Federica MOGHERINI, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the EC, What we are doing now is, as I said, naturally some member states, at the request of France through the European mechanism, some support on their attacks on DAESH in Iraq and Syria. I do not see a future EU military intervention in Syria or in Iraq. I said it several times, the European Union is having a role, a crucial one on Syria and the fight against DAESH on two tracks: one is the humanitarian assistance we give inside Syria and outside Syria. And second is the support and facilitation we are providing for the political talks to try to solve the crisis in Syria. We give a framework for the military involvement of our Member States in the coalition against DAESH or in the support to France in what is is doing, but I do not envisage a military intervention from the EU as such against DAESH on the ground or here.

SOUNDBITE (English), Federica MOGHERINI, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the EC, What we have done immediately after having reached an ageement in Iran on their nuclear programme after the summer, we have pushed for an international support group for Syria with all relevant actors, in the region and the international scene: As you said, Russia, US, EU, the UN, but also the regional players. Normally we do not sit at the same table, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egupt, Jordan, Lebanon, others.This unity of the international community produced already a UN Security Council resolution that was passed unanimously on Syria, something quite big, just a few weeks ago. And that sets the road map for the future.

SOUNDBITE (English), Federica MOGHERINI, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the EC, The talks among the Syrians, they are supposed to start in a few days in Geneva, are going to be the starting point of on one side a political transition, so yes a transition means you start in one place and you end in another one, in Damascus, in parallel a cease fire among all those that are fighting in the internal civil war ongoing in Syria, that could allow us to unite forces to effectively fight against DAESH and defeat DAESH. And in parallel to that, a reform of the constitution of Syria, and the preparation for election where not only the Syrians that are still in Syria, but also the Syrians that are outside Syria could vote and determine the democratic future of the country.

SOUNDBITE (English), Federica MOGHERINI, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the EC, Rather than simply stating, as we have done for 4-5 years now, that Bashar AL ASSAD has to leave and he is still there, we start a process that allows a transition

SOUNDBITE (English), Federica MOGHERINI, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the EC, The only way of defeating, not only fighting but defeating DAESH, is to stop civil war and unite forces against this major threat.

SOUNDBITE (English), Federica MOGHERINI, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the EC, Europe has always been the strongest actor in an economic or commercial scene in Iran before the sanctions were introduced, and you see this very clearly already. It's mainly for the European businesses to go back and invest.

SOUNDBITE (English), Federica MOGHERINI, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the EC, I see a lot of possible fields of cooperation between the EU and Iran in the field of research, science and technology or culture. We have plenty of fields where cooperation is possible, none of them excluded, we have started already a political dialogue, bilateral political dialogue, between the EU and Iran, with all the issues on the table, including the difficult ones like issues of human rights and fields where our positions are different. But the major sucess for Europe is the fact that we have managed to have diplomacy winning in this process. So it's a result for diplomacy, it's result for Europe, in terms of preventing nuclear proliferation, so it's a safety and security issue for us. But it is also something that could open the way for a more cooperative approach in the region. So, a real success will come when this agreement will manage to open the way for different kinds of relations. More cooperation between Iran and Saudi Arabia, in the Gulf and in the region, this is the real investment

SOUNDBITE (English), Federica MOGHERINI, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the EC, Sanctions on Russia have just been rolled over in December. The European Union was and remains united on this, on the fact that this is linked to a full implementation of the Minsk agreement. No change in policy there, and our work is not simply to keep the unity on the sanctions, sanctions are not a policy on themselves, sanctions are an instrument to put pressure and try to achieve the real objective that is the full implementation of the Minsk agreement. Russians have some influence in this, that can do a lot to implement their part of the Minsk agreement. We are obviously working also with the Ukrainians to make sure their part is also implemented, and this is our real work as Europeans, to try and have a full implementation of all aspects of the Minsk agreement, to have it fast, to bring back peace in Ukraine, to make the country work.

SOUNDBITE (English), Federica MOGHERINI, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the EC, We work in a constructive way with Russia. Think of the Iranian deal, I just mentioned we did it together, think of the situation in the Middle East, we worked together, think of the situation in Libya, all the work we do in the UN Security Council we do it together. On the Ukrainian issue, on the annexation of Crimea, our policy stays the same. But our wish is that our relations with Russia could improve, and that the Minks agreement could be fully implemented.