Prospects for European integration and détente in the Mediterranean

Recommendation 1166 (1991)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 24 September 1991 (16th Sitting) (see Doc. 6489, report of the Political Affairs Committee, Rapporteur : Mr Soares Costa). Text adopted by the Assembly on 24 September 1991 (16th Sitting).

Thesaurus

1. The Assembly notes the unprecedented challenges arising out of the situation in Europe and in the Soviet Union (see Recommendation 1161 (1991)), as it has evolved since the signature of the Paris Charter for a New Europe (21 November 1990), and recalls its own previous work on a new world and European order, and Resolution 963 adopted on 25 April 1991, in particular.

2. The Assembly expresses the firm hope that the new situation in the Soviet Union will not delay implementation of the agreement in principle reached at the end of July between the United States, the Soviet Union, Israel and her neighbours and the principal Arab states rapidly to convene a peace conference, leading to the beginning of negotiations between the parties, with which democratic Europe as a whole, for cultural and historical as well as political and economic reasons, should be associated.

3. It notes that Israel, whose parliament has observer status with our Assembly, has a special role to play in accepting authentic representatives of the Palestinian people as negotiating partners.

4. It condemns the taking of hostages for any purpose, including political blackmail, and calls upon all states in the region to use their influence and take all possible measures to free the hostages in Lebanon and elsewhere.

5. Consolidation of democracy must be seen, together with improved mutual understanding, as a precondition for greater political stability in all states bordering the Mediterranean, a region troubled by new economic and demographic tensions, as well as by the long-running Arab-Israeli and Cyprus conflicts, and the present tragic crisis in Yugoslavia.

6. In this connection, the Assembly welcomes the initiative of the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers in calling for a seminar on Euro-Arab understanding and cultural exchange, which the Secretary General is organising in Strasbourg on14 and 15 November 1991, with participation from the Parliamentary Assembly, an initiative which corresponds with the wishes the latter expressed in its Resolution 963 of April 1991..

7. The Assembly considers that this seminar should constitute a first pragmatic contribution by the Council of Europe to promoting the ‘‘human dimension'', linked with the aims of a ‘‘Conference on Security and Co-operation in the Mediterranean'', as promoted by four Council of Europe member states, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain.

8. Where the Cyprus situation is concerned, the Assembly reaffirms its total support for the good offices mission of the United Nations Secretary General and its hope that a solution can be brought nearer by the convening of an international conference, acceptable to all parties, before the end of the current year, when his term of office ends.

9. In this connection, it welcomes the announcement of 2 August 1991 that the Prime Minister of Greece, Mr Mitsotakis, and the President of Turkey, Mr Özal, have agreed to attend a meeting to be convened and chaired by the United Nations Secretary General with a view to paving the way towards facilitating the successful holding of such a conference.

10. The Assembly therefore calls upon the Committee of Ministers, in connection with the two CSCE meetings due to take place during 1991, to implement the proposals already contained in Recommendation 1158 of 28 June 1991, that is to say :

10.1 at the Moscow Conference on the Human Dimension (10 September-4 October 1991), to ensure, in connection with any new CSCE individual rights mechanism that may be decided, a specific linkage with the European Convention on Human Rights, with precedence given to the latter ;

10.2 at the Oslo Seminar on Democratic Institutions (4-15 November 1991), to ensure that the unique credentials, based on practical achievements acquired in this area by the Assembly, are recognised, and that discussion is not left only to governmental officials and academics.

11. The Assembly also calls upon the Committee of Ministers, during the present crucial period for both the European and Mediterranean regions, to make available the Council of Europe's expertise and good offices to all parties, without discrimination, to the extent that they demonstrate their commitment to democratic principles and human rights, not only where Yugoslavia but also where other Mediterranean non-member states, as well as member states, are concerned.