Press Release No. 032-03
28 January 2003
AS UN SECURITY COUNCIL FOCUSES ON IRAQ
OPLE
MEETS WITH CURRENT AND INCOMING U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENTS;
DISCUSSES OPTIONS FOR PEACE
Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople, who leads the Philippine Delegation
to the 14th ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting in Brussels, Belgium, met with Mr.
Joschka Fischer, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany, which will assume
the presidency of the U.N. Security Council this February. He also
met separately with Mr. Renaud Muselier, the State Secretary for Foreign
Affairs of France, the current UNSC President. During his meeting with
these two key players on the Iraqi issue, Secretary Ople reiterated the desire
of the Philippines for a peaceful solution on the issue of Iraq.
“In our discussions, it was clear that both France and Germany are determined
to exhaust every option to maintain peace and to avoid war,” Secretary Ople
said after his meetings. “I emphasized to them our own strong desire
for peace and our deep concern for the safety of our Filipinos in the Middle
East…” adding “…they also shared with me their insights and realistic expectations,
which, coming from these two key officials, will certainly prove to be valuable
to us”.
“In our discussions, it was clear that we shared many common positions on
the issue of Iraq, primarily that any action against Iraq should be consistent
with the UN Charter and international law,” Secretary Ople said. In
discussing the Iraqi issue, Ople also touched on the strategic importance
of stability in the Middle East, he said “…in the long term, when it comes
to the safety of our Filipinos in the Middle East, they cannot truly be safe
until the issue of the presence of weapons of mass destruction is addressed
and solved, for the stability and security of the entire region rest on this
pivotal issue.”
Secretary Ople also received the assurances of the two officials that their
countries would keep the NPA and Mr. Jose Maria Sison on their terrorist
list and will fully support every effort of the Philippine Government to
achieve lasting peace.
Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer also told Secretary Ople that the German
people are looking forward to the visit of President Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo
to Germany this March, particularly since Germany continues to view the Philippines
as a priority trade and investment destination. Minister Fischer also
committed to do what it can to review the additional visa requirements imposed
on Filipino applicants for Schengen* visas.
*The 15 Schengen countries are: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France,
Germany, Iceland, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal,
Spain and Sweden. All these countries except Norway and Iceland are European
Union members.