Foreign Policy Address
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Foreign Policy Address presented by Mr. Jean Asselborn Minister of Foreign and European Affairs before the Luxembourg Parliament on 13 March 2018 Check against delivery FOREIGN POLICY ADDRESS Mr. President, Honorable Parliamentarians, Ladies and Gentlemen, 1. In my first foreign policy address to this Chamber, in November 2005, I underlined that “effective multilateralism” is more than just a slogan for us Luxembourgers. It is a necessity, in order to guarantee durable peace and security in Luxembourg and in the world. 2. In the November 2014 address, based also on the experience of our first mandate in the UN Security Council, I described multilateralism as an edifice in which the states are the building blocks, as it were. When these blocks become fragile, or rather, when the cement, which binds these blocks together – i.e. the trust in the other stakeholders and in the system itself – starts to crumble, the entire edifice is at stake and risks tumbling down. 3. This is a clear and present danger today. The Paris climate agreement, trade negotiations, the nuclear deal with Iran, the Middle East Peace Process, negotiations at the UN on a Global Compact for Migration, international humanitarian law: multilateral agreements and normative frameworks are increasingly under fire. The international consensus of yesteryear – for instance the two-state solution for Israel and Palestine – is called into question today, more and more often also under the influence of the current US Administration. 4. There is a definite trend towards unilateralism, just like there is a clear tendency to undermine human rights and the rule of law. 5. After World War II, the establishment of the United Nations laid the foundations for an international order, whose purpose it was to prevent war and protect human dignity. This year, we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, in many countries, human rights are trampled underfoot every day. There are unfortunately also countries in Europe, in which the rule of law is threatened; countries, in which an authoritarian populism is taking hold, which does not shy away from branding journalists or liberal politicians as “enemies of the people”, designating minorities and other vulnerable groups as “alien” or “undesirable”; countries, in which migrants and refugees are described as an existential threat. 6. Together with our partners in the European Union and beyond, we Luxembourgers must continue to resist this racist, authoritarian, and populist worldview, and fight for human rights and the rule of law. We have faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, as it is 1 written in the Charter of the United Nations. We believe that all human beings have the same rights, regardless of their origin, the colour of their skin, their ethnicity, their religion, their sexual orientation or gender identity, social circumstances or their political convictions. We also know where we end up when human dignity is no longer held as the central principle. 7. People occasionally ask me whether it is not depressing and frustrating to be a Minister of Foreign Affairs at a time in which the world seems to be increasingly in turmoil. I do not want to burden you with an insight into my state of mind. But I remain of the firm conviction that, precisely in times as difficult as these, the diplomatic engagement and commitment of Luxembourg also is more necessary than ever before: a commitment to multilateralism, to our fundamental freedoms and our values, to human rights and the rule of law, in the framework of a strong European Union, since this is also in our own best interest. And to make yourself understood, it is not always sufficient to cuddle up to the truth with diplomatic politeness; it is occasionally very appropriate to trust your gut. 8. I do not mean to paint a bleak picture or conjure up doom, as the populists are wont to do. The global trend of human evolution remains positive. Steven Pinker, a renowned Harvard psychology professor, underlines this with concrete statistics, like the regression of poverty, progress in education or medicine, or the rising number of democracies worldwide: there were 52 democracies in the early 1990s, now there are 103. Even if everyday reality – especially that of a Foreign Minister – appears to be dictated by crises and emergencies, we must not lose sight of the bigger picture and the longer term. This bigger picture gives us reason to hope that our collective engagement is not in vain. ENGAGEMENT FOR MULTILATERALISM AND HUMAN RIGHTS 9. First of all, I would like to show with a number of examples how Luxembourg’s diplomacy concretely promotes our values and multilateralism. 10. One such example is the Rohingya refugee crisis in Myanmar. 11. Much has been written about what has been going on since 25 August of last year in Rakhine State in Myanmar. Up until now, more than 700,000 Rohingya have had to flee to Bangladesh. The Burmese army is talking about “clearance operations” or the “fight against terrorism”. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned as far back as September that ethnic cleansing is taking place in Myanmar, and only last week, he used the term “genocide” again. We know, based on credible reports by the UN, international observers, the press, and civil society that systematic and widespread attacks have been carried out against the civilian population. Under article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, this amounts to crimes against humanity. In my understanding of this situation, which is certainly 2 complex, there is no doubt about this. With the support of Luxembourg, the European Union has taken targeted restrictive measures against military leaders in Myanmar. We also requested the government of Myanmar to accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for those crimes. If this does not happen, the international community must take its responsibility: either the UN Security Council needs to refer the situation in Rakhine State to the ICC, or a special mechanism needs to be set up, as it was done for Syria in 2016. 12. Last November, I met with Aung San Suu Kyi in Nay Pyi Taw, the capital of Myanmar, in the margins of an Asia-Europe Foreign Ministers’ meeting. I was able to tell her personally that we are deeply worried about the situation of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Rakhine state, in the Western part of her country, on the border with Bangladesh. 13. My call was clear: the violence against the Rohingya must cease immediately; access for humanitarian aid must be guaranteed, including for the UN and NGOs; the voluntary, safe, and dignified return of the refugees must be enabled through a bilateral agreement with Bangladesh. 14. In the meantime, such a bilateral agreement has been signed. It now needs to be implemented. We must however be aware that the return of the Rohingya refugees, whenever it will start, could take 10 years. 15. Perhaps our expectations vis-à-vis the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and the democratic transition in Myanmar were too high. Aung San Suu Kyi has only so much room for manoeuvre in a system in which the army retains a great deal of control. But it is precisely because of her status of Nobel Peace Prize laureate that she bears a decisive political responsibility. 16. Closer to home, we have continued to promote our values in the context of developments in Turkey, an important neighbouring state of the EU; a country which has had the status of EU accession candidate since 1999 and with which negotiations started in 2005. 17. In Turkey, the pressure on all stakeholders of democracy, the rule of law, and civil society continues to grow. The attempted coup d’état of July 2016, which could thankfully be averted, has unfortunately been invoked to justify ever more drastic measures. Hundreds of thousands of people, judges, magistrates, journalists, civil servants, teachers, and officers have been placed under general suspicion, suspended from their jobs, and tried. The Turkish courts can no longer accomplish their mission independently. Civil society is under increasing pressure. The media are under fire from all sides. 18. What remains is a climate of fear and hopelessness. The many people in Turkey who had seen their future in a law-abiding democracy and inside the European Union are now worried that this same European Union is leaving them behind. This must not happen: we must act much 3 more systematically for the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms in this great and important country. It is not too late to change course. Hence my renewed call today for the unconditional release of Taner Kilic, President of Amnesty International Turkey, as well as of all other human rights defenders, journalists, magistrates, or civil servants, who have been locked up in Turkey because of their convictions. 19. With regard to Turkey, I would also like to underscore the importance of the Council of Europe. As a multilateral institution of 47 member states with 820 million citizens, the Council of Europe plays a crucial role in helping to uphold the rights of these citizens. Luxembourg supports the Council of Europe all the more now, one year before its 70th anniversary, because it is in a deep crisis, which may come to question its very existence. This crisis has been triggered by a number of “firsts” in the history of the Council of Europe, as through the activation of article 7 inside the European Union, to which I will return later.