European Union: War is not inevitable

The President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, considers that a war against Iraq is not inevitable and proposes an extra-ordinary meeting of EU Foreign Ministers to present a common position.

This common stance was somewhat compromised by the hasty position taken by eight present and future EU member states (The UK, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Denmark, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic), which signed a letter stating their position in favour of the aggressive and bellicose position taken by the USA without respecting the usual channels within the EU.

Jonathan Faull, spokesperson for Romano Prodi, stated yesterday that the President of the European Commission considers that “War is not inevitable and we have to make joint efforts to solve the problem of eliminating the Weapons of Mass Destruction”. Once again, politicians outside Iraq forget that Baghdad has claimed repeatedly that it does not have such weapons.

Romano Prodi has declared that he will make every effort to aid the Greek Presidency of the EU work towards a peaceful solution. The Greek Foreign Minister, Yorgus Papanderou, has admitted that “there is a solution and that is Iraq cooperating fully with the UNO and supplying all the necessary information”.

John ASHTEAD PRAVDA.Ru LONDON UNITED KINGDOM