Rede von Bundespräsident Dr. Thomas Klestil vor den in Wien akkreditierten arabischen Botschaftern

Wien (OTS) - Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me and my wife to welcome the Arab
Ambassadors accredited to Austria and their spouses here in the
Hofburg. As we follow developments in the Middle East with concern in
this critical period I thought it would be a good idea to meet with
you once again in this setting. I firmly believe that no modern means
of communication can substitute direct personal exchanges of views.

As you are well aware, Austria and the Arab world look back on a
long history of close relations. Centuries of cultural, political and
economic contacts have fostered our friendship and the mutual
understanding between our countries and peoples. For almost a
millennium Arabs and Austrians have accumulated a rich treasure of
common knowledge and experience which has endured the ups and downs
of history.

It gives me a great deal of satisfaction when representatives of
your countries express their appreciation of Austria’s comprehension
regarding justified aspirations of Arab countries. In fact, in
international fora and especially within the European Union we strive
for a better understanding of the Arab world.

This is particularly true for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
which by now has gone on for already more than half a century and
still gives rise to grave concerns. More than ever we need to break
the deadly spiral of hate and violence.

The Road Map, elaborated by the Middle-East-Quartet and finally
presented to the parties after months of frustrating delays, as well
as the appointment of a new Palestinian Prime Minister are hopeful
signs along the road towards returning to the negotiating table. The
full implementation of the Road Map will hopefully end decades of
armed struggle and confrontations by allowing the Palestinian people
to establish an independent and democratic State in peace with the
neighbouring State of Israel.

The vision reflected in the Arab Peace Plan approved by the Member
States of the Arab League at their Summit Meeting in Beirut in March
2002, will certainly be much closer to realization if, finally, the
option of negotiated solutions based on principles of international
legality prevails over military efforts and violence directed against
innocent people.

Austria and the entire European Union are fully committed to
accompany the parties on that road towards peace which also must
include solutions to the open conflicts between Israel and its
neighbours to the North and North-East, Lebanon and Syria. In this
sense, I appeal to the governments represented by you to encourage
the parties to pursue the road to peace in a determined way.

Stability and prosperity in the Middle East depend on peaceful
relations between neighbours and on unlimited opportunities for all
citizens to contribute to the social, cultural and economic
development of their countries.

One of our major concerns in the aftermath of the Iraq war is to
reduce negative consequences for Iraq and to avoid spill-over effects
in the region. Again we realize that the toughest challenge of war is
to establish lasting peace and stability. Essential for the
rebuilding of Iraq will certainly be the reconciliation of its
different ethnic and religious groups. In order to achieve lasting
stability we - the Arab world and Europe - have to address the
humanitarian, economic and political challenges as well as to
establish the necessary cooperation within the region of which Iraq
is a part .

On issues beyond the humanitarian context, I agree with U.N.
Secretary General Kofi Annan on the key principles for Iraq’s future:
sovereignty, territorial integrity, sovereign control over natural
resources, political independence and self-determination.

When it comes to rebuilding Iraq in a long-term perspective and to
the difficult task of nation-building, the United Nations seems to be
in a unique position to provide relevant know-how based on the
experience from similar missions around the world.

I am very pleased and honoured by the personal invitation extended
by His Majesty King Abdullah of Jordan to - as he writes - his dear
brother, to join the world’s leadership for an Extraordinary Annual
Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Amman in an effort to boost
the spirit of cooperation .

We see in fact the present situation in the Middle East as
additional motivation to create the highest possible degree of
understanding and trust between Europe and the Arab world which in
political, economic and cultural respect is a most important partner
not only for Austria but for the whole of Europe. We therefore
attach great importance to the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation
established by the Barcelona Process.

For us it represents another means of pursuing one of the central
elements of Austrian foreign policy: good relations with the Arab and
Mediterranean countries on a larger, multilateral scale.

Furthermore, I would envision the creation of a kind of an
Organisation for Security and Cooperation for Europe and the Arab
countries like the OSCE that would bring the European and the
Islamic countries closer together by means of an ongoing
institutionalized dialogue. For the middle of March I had already
been planning visits to Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar. The President of
Syria, Bashar Al-Assad , was scheduled to pay a state visit to
Austria at the beginning of April. Because of the war in Iraq, these
visits, however, had to be postponed to a more propitious time. I am
looking forward to meeting with the Heads of State of these countries
in a not too distant future. Other trips to the Islamic world are
also being prepared.

Through these contacts at the highest level I also wish to
underline that Islam and terrorism have absolutely nothing to do with
each other. In order to eradicate terrorism and political radicalism
we also have to address the root causes in order to be successful in
our common endeavour.

Excellencies,
 Ladies and gentlemen,

Let us bear in mind that friendship between countries is like
friendship between people - it will only prosper if it is cultivated.
I am therefore grateful for your assistance in making my visits to
Arab countries in the last two years a full success. We highly
appreciate your trust and confidence and wish to reciprocate your
feelings of friendship. I would therefore ask you to consider this
gathering today as an expression of our sincere desire to strengthen
the close and warm relations between our countries and peoples.

This, I believe, is of particular importance at a time when
far-reaching decisions are about to be taken concerning the future of
the Middle East and also its relationship to the world of tomorrow.
It is with these thoughts in mind that I welcome you again to the
Hofburg.

OTS0175    2003-05-08/13:23

OTS-ORIGINALTEXT UNTER AUSSCHLIESSLICHER INHALTLICHER VERANTWORTUNG DES AUSSENDERS | BPK

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