Poignant, powerful and persuasive – Annan in Brussels

Date: 05/02/04

But the bitter chill of a Brussels winter was more than offset by the warmth of the welcome he received from everyone inside the huge glass-fronted building.

A child's painting of Annan, part of a peace exhibition in the Parliament's Yehudi Menuhin Room, summed it up.

Underneath, it said simply: "Kofi Annan: merci".

His motorcade, travelling the short distance from Brussels' city centre Hilton Hotel, where Annan stayed during his visit, possibly his last as secretary-general, was slightly held up by heavy overnight snowfall.

When he arrived, he was greeted at the entrance to the Paul-Henri Spaak building by European Parliament President Pat Cox, as well as by children from a primary school in the Brussels district of Rhôde Saint-Genèse, who presented the UN chief's Swedish wife Nane with a bouquet of flowers.

The formalities of a half-hour meeting with Cox over, the stage was set for the day's show piece - Annan's address to the full Parliament, where he was to receive the Sakharov prize on behalf of UN staff killed or injured in the bomb attack on the organization's Baghdad headquarters last August.

The normally sedate area outside the third-floor hemicycle - the Parliamentary chamber - was packed with TV crews jostling for the best vantage point, to catch a glimpse of the man described as the "master of consensus diplomacy".

But perhaps the ones most eagerly awaiting Annan's visit were a small group, almost forgotten in the excitement, waiting patiently in a corner of the room. They were the survivors of the Baghdad bomb and relatives of those who were killed, in what Cox branded "a vicious" assault.

They included Annie de Mello, widow of the respected veteran diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello, UN high commissioner for human rights and Annan's special envoy in Iraq.

Accompanied by their son, Laurent, tears streamed down her face when she was later introduced to MEPs.

Other bereaved relatives included Rula Al-Farra, sister of 30-year-old UN information officer Reham Al-Farra, and Luis Martin Oar, whose 56-year-old brother Manuel was killed.

Survivors of the attack who had also travelled to Brussels included Nada Al-Nashif, who now works in Beirut, Mona Rishmawi, a senior advisor to de Mello, and American Gil Loescher, who lost both his legs as a result of the blast (see article, right).

Security guards kept onlookers at bay as the group of eight - three survivors and five relatives - had a precious few minutes with Annan.

It was also a particularly poignant occasion for Pat Cox's press officer, Alison Suttie.

Her best friend, 35-year-old Fiona Watson, worked for de Mello and was also killed in the attack. "Today brings back a lot of memories," said Alison. "Fiona and I were at Edinburgh University at the same time and later worked together in the [UK] House of Commons."

Among those in the chamber were another group of special people - past winners of the Sakharov Prize, awarded each year in memory of the Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov. They included Xanana Gusmão, president of East Timor and winner in 1999, Ibrahim Rugova, president of Kosovo (1998), Senka Kurtovic, editor of the newspaper Oslobodjenje in Sarajevo (1993) and Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng (1996).

MEPs rose from their seats and warmly applauded each after they were introduced. Annan, currently serving his second term as head of the UN, was himself given a five-minute standing ovation - and a hug from Cox - before delivering what turned out to be a somewhat controversial speech on the sensitive and highly topical subject of immigration.

The speech took up the same theme - migrants' rights - as his article in last week's European Voice.

Imploring the Parliament to show "leadership" on the issue, the UN's figurehead said: "You, as MEPs, have a vital role to play in providing that leadership.

"The message is clear. Migrants need Europe. But Europe also needs migrants. A closed Europe would be a meaner, poorer, weaker, older Europe. An open Europe will be a fairer, richer, stronger, young Europe - provided you manage migration well."

With EU luminaries such as External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten and Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Brian Cowan looking on, he ended his 30-minute speech, saying: "Migrants are part of the solution, not part of the problem."

To cries of "bravo" Annan raised his hand in a clenched-fist salute.

Some MEPs, such as Daniel Cohn-Bendit, firebrand joint leader of the Greens/EFA group, lapped it up - ironically, it was his group that had initially fiercely protested at the prize going to the UN, saying it should

instead go to an individual. But that was long forgotten as he lavished praise on Annan for a "truly groundbreaking" oration, going so far as to liken it to Martin Luther King's famous "I have a dream" speech of 28 August, 1963.

If Cohn-Bendit liked it, a few others, particularly certain members of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), were noticeably less than impressed.

Although it was actually Annan's second visit to the Parliament (he visited it last year), the sense of occasion was at least not lost on EPP leader Hans-Gert Pöttering, for whom it was a "historic day for the European Parliament".

Liberal group leader Graham Watson, meanwhile, responded by calling for the UN to return to Iraq as soon as the security situation allows, while Socialist group leader Enrique Barón Crespo said Annan's "brave, committed" speech served as a "lesson to us all". Frenchman Francis Wurtz, leader of the left-wing GUE group, went even further, describing the address as "magnificent".

Annan's appearance before the 626-strong assembly did not, however, pass entirely without the odd glitch or two.

At one point, a clearly rattled Cox had to chastise members for chatting among themselves during proceedings, bluntly telling them: "If you want to talk, go outside." And the sight of empty seats in a far-from-full chamber may have caused some embarrassment.

Clutching his prize - a small plaque - Annan's next stop, en route to lunch, was a quick visit to a nearby peace exhibition where local children serenaded him with a couple of numbers, including Tous Les Enfants de Monde Entier (All Children from All the World).

This being bilingual Brussels, the song was also performed in Flemish.

If Annan - once described by former US ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke as the best secretary-general in the organization's history - had been a tad underwhelmed by the response of some MEPs, lunch in Cox's 12th- floor presidential suite probably made up for it.

Starter was Le Carpaccio de Saint-Jacques à l'Huile de Truffes Blanches, followed by a main course of Les Mignons de Veau au Thym and Chicons Confits et Asperges Vertes, with a desert of La Dacquoise de Chocolat et Pistache au Nougat - and all washed down with a 2002 Côtes de Thongue Domain de Montmarin.

It may have been the vin rouge but the usually reticent Annan was certainly on good form later when he faced a packed press conference, cracking gags when asked his opinion on whether US Secretary of State Colin Powell and he should team up to help resolve the Cyprus problem: "I think that Colin Powell's already got his hands full."

And, in response to yet another question from the assembled hacks, he said: "I'm not the only one on the podium, you know."

Patten, sitting alongside him, looked on sheepishly.

When the time came for Annan to leave, warm winter sunshine had melted the snow - an appropriate metaphor for the impact he had had during his five- hour visit. Cox gave him another hug - his third of the day - and waved him off for Annan's next stop - meetings with King Albert of Belgium and the country's Foreign Minister Louis Michel.

No sooner had Annan sped off than Cox et al were greeting Parliament's next VIP visitor of the day - the president of the Slovak parliament.

Don't let anyone say the European Parliament can't attract the big names.

Report of a visit to the European Parliament on 29 January 2004 by Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations. Mr Annan gave a speech to the Parliament on the subject of immigration.