EU Ministers Discuss Possible Role in Postwar Iraq

EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday had no small task to consider. After the fall of Baghdad, the European Union is considering two working proposals designed to provoke a wide-ranging debate on the 15-nation bloc's role in postwar Iraq and what concrete measures it should take in the reconstruction of the war-torn country.

The 14 ministers, minus Britain's Jack Straw who is in the Gulf, are likely to avoid the sensitive issue of making firm decisions over Iraq while military action continues in the country. The proposals -- one from the European Commission; one from the Greek presidency -- will analyze the role of the EU in post-conflict situations that it has committed to in the past, such as Afghanistan, East Timor, Kosovo and Cambodia and could be used as blueprints for any plan for EU involvement. Among other possible topics for discussion is the idea of sending an EU envoy to Iraq or setting up an EU mission in the country.

EU to concentrate on humanitarian relief

However, it remains unclear what role, if any, the European Union will take in postwar Iraq. It is unlikely that the EU will commit itself to answering that question at the meeting.

In a proposal outlined by EU External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten, the EU commission has urged the foreign ministers to find a quick common position on the role of the U.N. and the EU in the reconstruction of postwar Iraq. "If the EU is in a position to clarify early which role it wants to play in Iraq after the conflict, then it could possibly influence the contents of a U.N. resolution on the process," the proposal said.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana described the meeting as a chance to take stock of events and regroup for decisions ahead. "I expect a very solid debate," he told the Associated Press. "It's a moment to take stock of what has been going on and to begin to take decisions although I don't think that today will take very fundamental decisions ... it's to get a sense of where we are."

According to diplomats in Luxembourg, the EU will, for the time being, confine itself to discussing how the EU can help in the shorter-term matter of getting aid to the Iraqi people.

The European Commission has already begun to channel €21 million ($22.5 million) in humanitarian relief money into Iraq and is pressing the member states to release another €79 million. "The first priority for the moment is humanitarian aid: how to mobilize to deliver aid in the most efficient and fastest way possible for the Iraqi people," one EU diplomat told the BBC. "The second is security. On this point, there is a consensus that this task is incumbent upon the military forces on the ground," he added, with much of Iraq in chaos since U.S. soldiers swept into Baghdad last week.

No action has been excluded

But France's European Affairs Minister Noelle Lenoir hinted that the EU's involvement may go beyond distributing aid when she was interviewed on French public radio broadcaster RFI, saying that the EU's role in Iraq may not be limited to humanitarian relief, and that "nothing has been excluded".

Refusing to be drawn into a debate on a possible EU military peace-keeping force in Iraq, Lenoir explained, "What we don't want is for each country to go off on its own, a situation we regretted a short while back. Each country can make proposals and suggestions, we've done it ourselves. But when it comes to action, the Union must present itself as a political entity, a community of states, all going in the same direction," she added.

The EU has been slowly establishing a rapid reaction force, which began its first operation in Macedonia last month, and its use in Iraq could be a topic for discussion over the next few days.

The peace can be won militarily: Fischer

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer believes that after the war is over, order can be achieved militarily with Europe's peacekeeping experience and help to secure peace in Iraq. Fischer said on Sunday in an interview with Swiss weekly NZZ am Sonntag that, "the danger does not go away after a military solution, quite the opposite. We must win the peace when the war is over militarily."

Making his case for European involvement in Iraq, Fischer added, "It's not that there's too much America, there's not enough Europe. Europe is especially strong in matters that are not purely military. That can be seen in the Balkans, and is also true in Afghanistan." German peacekeeping forces are currently in joint command in Afghanistan.

EU leaders agreed on UN role

While the European Union discusses what should happen next in Iraq, the general consensus voiced throughout the member states is that the United Nations should have a pivotal role in the reconstruction of Iraq and that every effort must be made to return the country to a state of sovereignty.

Fischer too emphasized that the U.N. should play a central role in postwar Iraq. "I believe, that the umbrella of the U.N. is of decisive importance when one considers the enormity of the tasks involved," he said.

Despite the differences between "the willing", British Prime Minister Tony Blair, together with Spain's Jose Maria Aznar, and the EU "anti-war" leaders, France and Germany, it seems that EU leaders agree on one thing -- the central role of the United Nations in Iraq's reconstruction.

Returning from a two-day summit on Iraq in Saint Petersburg with Russia's Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and French President Jacques Chirac demanded a central role for the United Nations in rebuilding Iraq. Chancellor Schröder stressed that "the U.N. Security Council must confer legitimacy" on any reconstruction drive in Iraq.

Bridges to be built at Athens summit

As a result of growing calls for United Nations involvement, Secretary General Kofi Annan has cancelled visits to the UK, Germany, France and Russia to attend a special EU summit in Athens that begins in Wednesday.

It is likely that the debate will continue in the wings at the so-called "kiss and make up" summit in Athens where the 10 EU candidate states will sign accession treaties. It will be the first meeting between the divided EU leaders since the Iraq war began.