LEMONDE.FR | 28.05.04 | 19h50
Mr. Chirac decries the new American unilateralism
During the EU/Latin American summit in Guadalajara, the French president wished for more collaboration between states, and recalled "the impasse" of unilateral action, clearly aiming but without naming the American operations in Iraq. Mr. Chirac otherwise pleaded for an enlargement of the number of members of the Security Council of the UN.
French president Jacques Chirac delivered Friday, May 28th, a new charge against unilateralism which, according to him, leads to an "impasse", without citing the United States, but in a clear allusion to its difficulties in Iraq. "Multilateralism is necessary in our time", said Mr. Chirac, during a round table of the third summit of the EU and Latin America. The text of his speech was pronounced in a closed session, but was made public by the presidential office.
Security problems, which pose the question of the recourse to force, are henceforth global and should be taken up in a multilateral framework in order to receive legitimate treatment', he added. "It suffices to convince when noting the threat that state failure can weigh in the balance of world stability, or the impasses that unilateral action lead to", added the French president, as when the United States cannot attain assurances of security and stability in Iraq.
The Planet: A new political society
After having rejected any involvement of the UN before and during the war, Washington tries today to involve the international organization in the process of transferring power to the Iraqis before the 30th of June. In another implicit criticism of Washington's policy, which seeks to erect circumstantial coalitions as in Iraq, to the detriment of old alliances, Mr. Chirac affirmed that " states cannot replace alliances or coalitions ad hoc. They should organize throughout the planet as a new political society".
The leaders of 58 countries from Europe and Latin American met at Guadaljara had to refer to the war in Iraq in their final declaration, in condemning the torture of prisoners in Iraq without otherwise mentioning the United States. In order to develop multilateralism, President Chirac calls for the ratification of the universal treaty instituting the International Court of Justice, which Washington hasn't signed, or the negotiation of "texts more effective against threats such as the proliferation of arms of mass destruction". He underlined also that organizations like the highly criticized Comission on Human Rights of the UN should better function or it is necessary to reinforce the mechanisms in the fight against terrorism.
Mr. Chirac reiterated as well that "the democratization of the multilateral system" occurs by the enlargement of the UN Security Council, and by a bigger opening of international organization to civil society. We should "henceforth construct a state of international law in which our sovereignty will be limited by a choice freely consented to", concluded Mr. Chirac in calling for the EU and Latin America to be the "motor of this action".
Avec AFP.
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