RIYADH, 23 February 2004 — The European Union does not believe in imposing democracy on any country or the countries of a particular region despite its commitment to democracy and greater human rights, according to Bernard Savage, the newly-appointed ambassador at the EU’s first diplomatic mission here.
The office of the European Commission’s mission, the first in the Arabian Peninsula, was opened in the capital recently, underscoring the deepening relations between the Gulf Cooperation Council and the 15-member EU.
“The EU is ready to support any initiative of reforms in any country which seeks the EU’s support, but it cannot create or impose democracy or reforms in country X or Y,” Savage told Arab News. But Savage declined to comment on criticisms of US foreign policy raised by Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal during his whistlestop tour of four European countries.
“A document published recently by the EU’s foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Commissioner Chris Patten explains the European position on the issue of democracy and reforms in the Arab world,” Savage said.
Many European countries share the view of Saudi Arabia that any initiative aimed at backing modernization and reform in the Arab world must necessarily be coupled with a revival of a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem. All these subjects will be candidly discussed at the GCC-EU ministerial meeting, scheduled for May 17 in Brussels. This meeting of foreign ministers, Savage said, will be preceded by a meeting of a joint cooperation committee there.
Senior officials of the European Commission and senior officials of the GCC General Secretariat and officials of the GCC member states will participate in the meeting on April 28.
Another round of GCC-EU trade negotiations will take place within the next two months in Brussels, Savage said. “We are now discussing the core issues of the proposed agreement,” he said.
Europe has emerged as the No. 1 exporter to the GCC, he said. The Gulf remains the EU’s fifth largest export market.
The diplomat said in future the EC mission “will seek to activate the existing cooperation agreement, signed by EU and GCC in 1988.”
