Today's Date:

Foreign Policy

Interview given by Philippe Douste-Blazy, Minister for Foreign Affairs, to "France Inter", (excerpts).

Paris, August 24, 2005

AMAZON AIR CRASH/AIR SAFETY

THE MINISTER – Jacques Barrot is right, it is necessary, we can't keep having old aircraft in the news every couple of weeks, and nobody really knows if they've been properly serviced – a blacklist has to be posted. Jacques Barrot, the EU Commissioner for Transport, is right. As you know, on this day of national mourning, the whole French nation, in metropolitan France of course, and overseas France and abroad, share the families' grief at their irreparable loss. And as we share their grief, perhaps the best thing is to tell ourselves: never again! And so, yes, those blacklists, let's do it as soon as possible.

THE MINISTER – Of course it's feasible, I'm convinced it can be done inasmuch as everyone knows there are certain technical requirements involved in aircraft maintenance. Certain components have to be new, there must be a certain number of seats in the aircraft and no more. There must also be an age limit. You know, I live in Toulouse, we know about aeroplanes. There are extraordinary developments in aircraft design today. Both in terms of sustainable development, but also in terms of safety, noise and performance. So it is necessary.

THE MINISTER – All right, let's do what we did for double-hull vessels. After the Erika, decisions were taken to ensure that there would no longer be a single oil tanker in European waters without a double hull. Well, where there's political will, it can be done, so I'm convinced that today there are certainly a number of commercial airliners that must not be allowed to keep flying. I'm not an expert, but it seems to be common sense to at least look into it and not just leave everything to market forces, as they say. So that there may be effective regulation, so that there may be respect for the human person, because in the end that's all this is about, respect for the human person.

COTE D'IVOIRE

THE MINISTER – Listen, I'm going to do so. No, Côte d'Ivoire is in the process of emerging from crisis, a process which has been under way for almost three years, under the determined auspices of the international community, essentially the United Nations and the African Union – let me remind you that there are 10,000 men on the ground for the express purpose of ensuring that the country does go on and recover from the crisis. It's a difficult process, a demanding process, and there have been specific commitments by all the parties – in particular under the presidency of the South African President. It's a difficult process, it is therefore essential to keep heading in the only direction that's possible today in Côte d'Ivoire, that is, towards the elections which must take place in a manner not open to dispute. I said as much recently to the members of the Ivorian government, it's absolutely essential that the international community should be able to monitor those elections so as to be sure they take place in a totally correct manner.

THE MINISTER – No, as you know, force is never the right solution, in Africa as elsewhere. Let's stop this habit of...

THE MINISTER – It's very simple, the policy, if there's no force, then it's democracy. And so in Côte d'Ivoire, there must be democracy – like in the whole of the African continent. Let's stop thinking that in Africa it's not like elsewhere, so let's do everything through the United Nations, through the international community, through the pressures we can bring to bear. Through the 10,000 men who are there to make sure there are elections on 30 October, that's our responsibility.

So actually you're right: the militias must be disarmed, because otherwise it won't be possible. Let's get organized, let's make sure the electorate is not limited to 5% of the population – but that the electorate is representative. Let's make sure the international community, on 30 October, watches the elections and verifies that they are conducted properly. But let's stop being accustomed to the use of force, in certain countries of the world, I would say it's our dignity as the international community that requires us to insist on elections.

NIGER

THE MINISTER – Yes, the international community needs to revise its ideas about development assistance. Development assistance is not humanitarian, what is called humanitarian action, and heaven knows there's a need for "Médecins Sans Frontières", for "Médecins du Monde", for all those French doctors who are there when famine strikes, where children are so severely malnourished that they are going to die; yes, there's need for Unimix, for therapeutic milk, they must be saved. But that, that's the failure of development assistance, it makes a splash in the media, but it's failure. It's because the international community is abandoning Africa, abandoning the countries of the South, that's all, so we have to think again. Then the G8 countries meet and say: "We'll give lots of money..."

THE MINISTER – Yes, that's right, in the end President Chirac was the only one to talk about Niger at the G8. He took the decision to donate 0.7% of GDP, the only one of all the OECD countries to do so. If all the OECD countries gave 0.7% of their GDP, their national wealth, then tomorrow, as you say, it'll be over the long term, so what should be done? It's education: if today we let little girls of 5, 10 or even 15 years old spend the morning going to fetch water, that means they aren't going to school. If they don't go to school, that means you have a population problem later, because the girls don't get an education.

Secondly, about AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, there need to be public health programmes, and action too on desertification which you mentioned, talking about irrigation. These are long-term issues, which deserve to be worked on by the international community. But it so happens that when there are a few deaths here and there, and it's normal, everyone talks about it, for days and nights, but when there are 160,000 deaths in the space of a month in certain African countries, nobody talks about that.

THE MINISTER – I do talk about the indifference, you're quite right. I believe that the warning system that needs to be put in place doesn't exist today. It is an epidemiological warning system, that is, trying to see how... For example, in the West, we know very well, the moment an epidemic starts, an epidemic of tuberculosis or any other disease – and now there is much talk of bird flu – we have warning signals that light up. In Africa, nobody has set up such signals, but I find that completely abnormal and that's why the international community reacts too late.

IRAN

THE MINISTER – No, we have forcefully and firmly emphasized the principles, the principles of the Paris agreement of November 2004, which the Iranians accepted. That is to say, on the one hand, we Europeans, Germans, British, French, are making proposals for civilian nuclear power. Proposals, for example, to have Iran admitted to the WTO. And on the other, the Iranians agree to suspend their sensitive nuclear activities.

THE MINISTER – Precisely, a few days ago the Iranians told us: "We shall not do what we said. There has been a change of regime, and so, on that basis, we for our part are suspending the negotiations". But we think it is still possible to talk to them. We are saying to them: look at our proposals, we want to open a new chapter in relations between the European Union and Iran. Iran is a great country, a great people, which has an educated youth, high-level universities – there is no reason to close the door on Iran. Until the last moment, we want to be able to talk to them. So if they don't want that, if they decide to go nuclear for military reasons, we shall know. We are waiting for 3 September, when Mr El Baradei, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, will present his report. Meanwhile, every minute counts for Iran to suspend her sensitive nuclear activities, but also for us on our side to make proposals to them; it is a great country, we must work with them. (...)./.