Speech by Joschka Fischer,
Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany,
opening the UN-talks on Afghanistan at Bonn (Petersberg)
Honourable representatives of the Afghan people,
Mr Brahimi,
Mr Vendrell,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am delighted to welcome you to Germany, here on the
Petersberg. Our Government gladly accepted the request of the
United Nations to hold this round of talks in our country. We
will do everything possible to provide you with a positive
environment for your negotiations.
I extend an especially warm welcome to the Afghan
representatives. You first and foremost bear a tremendous
responsibility for the future of your country. After two decades
of a horrible war your fellow citizens long for peace and
stability. They long for a future in peace, and wish their
country to be rebuilt. They long for a future which will
guarantee all Afghans, women and men, their fundamental human
rights and dignity.
Afghanistan has a great opportunity now to win peace and
reconstruction, in a united, independent Afghanistan. Now a
future where terrorism and violence will have no place is at
hand. Now is the time to make use of the combined efforts and
strength of the international community for rebuilding your
country.
The responsibility is yours. No one can relieve you of it,
and no one wants to. I urge you all to forge a truly historic
compromise that holds out a better future for your torn country
and its people.
The international community is prepared to make this great
effort. This readiness is linked with clear expectations.
First, agreement on binding rules for a peaceful political
process and on a broad-based, representative transitional
government. Second, respect for and protection of human rights.
That includes first and foremost guaranteeing the rights and
dignity of women. Their active participation in the social and
political life of the nation is essential for the country's
peaceful future.
Ladies and gentlemen,
There is broad international agreement that the United
Nations has a critical role in the peace process. The UN is the
indispensable framework for the political process and the
guarantor of Afghanistan's internal agreements.
Mr Brahimi, Mr Vendrell, I wish you both good luck as you
will skillfully guide the talks. And I wish all of us a result
that will prove to be the first step in the five-point plan you
set out in the UN Security Council. We stand ready to give the
Secretary General of the United Nations and you any assistance
you may require.
Not only the people of Afghanistan have high expectations of
the talks here on Petersberg. A peaceful, stable Afghanistan is
at the core of peace and stability in the whole region. A
necessary condition for such a development, however, is that all
other countries stop pursuing competing national interests at
the expense of the Afghan people.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The immediate concern of the international community is to
get humanitarian aid to the suffering population. One result
from this conference should therefore be a political signal for
quickly solving the security problems that are still holding up
the distribution of supplies in many parts of Afghanistan. Only
if they are solved, the massive humanitarian project now
underway will have a chance to see the people, above all the
children, through the harsh winter. The German Government has
invited the Afghanistan Support Group to another meeting in
Berlin on 5 December to take decisions on further humanitarian
aid.
The commitment of the international community will not stop
in the spring. We want the people of Afghanistan to know that
they will not be left on their own when the conflict with the
Al-Qaida terrorists and the Taliban regime comes to an end. A
first conference on the reconstruction of Afghanistan took place
in Washington last week. It was attended by many Western and
Islamic states and organizations and has established first
important guidelines. A donors' conference has already been
scheduled for Tokyo in January.
The European Union is ready to make a considerable long-term
contribution towards Afghanistan's economic and social recovery.
Germany has already set aside about 80 million Euro for this
purpose. We will concentrate, above all, on restoring education
and administrative infrastructure and on empowering women and
girls to make a contribution to civil society. Among other
things, we want to support the traditional Amani High School in
Kabul, which was founded in 1924 and where German teachers
taught well into the early 80's. We will also seek to support a
similar secondary education for girls.
Ladies and gentlemen,
German-Afghan relations have a long-standing and positive
tradition. Germany today offers a second home to nearly 90,000
Afghans - more than any other country in Europe. In Afghanistan
itself, evidence of the close cooperation with Germany,
especially in the sixties and seventies, is still visible. By
bringing about a transition to stable government in Afghanistan
let us also open a new chapter in our bilateral partnership.
Distinguished guests from Afghanistan, now you have to
shoulder your responsibility to pave the way for a peaceful
political future for your nation, a way which reflects your
society's diversity and traditions and which will be acceptable
to all Afghans. It is up to you, the representatives of the
Afghan people, to seize this historic moment. Germany, the
European Union and the international community led by the United
Nations stand ready to help - now and in the long term.
I wish you every success in your talks and above all wisdom
and the will to compromise for the good of the people of
Afghanistan.