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European Commission Spokesman's Briefing for 98-04-20
From: EUROPA, the European Commission Server at <http://europa.eu.int>
MIDDAY EXPRESS
News from the Spokesman's midday briefing
Nouvelles du rendez-vous de midi du Porte-Paroleb
20/04/98
CONTENTS / CONTENU
[01] Emma Bonino on Iraq : "The oil-for-food deal must be implemented
quickly and properly"
[01] Emma Bonino on Iraq : "The oil-for-food deal must be implemented
quickly and properly"
"The case of Iraq is illustrative of the dilemmas facing the international
community when it comes to devising effective sanctions against rogue
States and governments" declared today in London Emma Bonino, European
Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, at the opening session of the "Iraq
Humanitarian Meeeting", a European Union's (EU) sponsored international
conference on the ways of implementing the United Nations "oil-for-food"
programme in Iraq. Mrs Bonino, the first EU Commissioner to visit Iraq
last year in August since the Gulf War, added : "It is perfectly legitimate
to impose repressive sanctions in cases of major violations of
international law, such as those perpetrated by the regime in Baghdad. No
legal legitimacy, however, can ease the distress caused by the mere thought
that ill-targeted or all-inclusive embargoes can and do cause misery and
social disarray for too many innocent civilians, often the most vulnerable.
The improved oil-for-food deal of resolution 1153 offers us a mechanism
that could provide a solution to match the scale of the problem: provided
that it is implemented quickly and properly on the ground." The European
Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) has spent nearly ECU 230 million since
1991 in Iraq, making the country's main supplier of humanitarian aid. This
figure does not include assistance provided through other Commission funds
(such as de-mining), or bilateral assistance provided by the EU Member
States.
MIDDAY EXPRESS
From EUROPA, the European Commission Server at http://europa.eu.int/
© ECSC - EC - EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1995, 1996
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