Prodi: We must help Iraqis – even if it makes Union look like an NGO

Date: 27/03/03

By Dana Spinant

THE EU must urgently provide relief aid to the Iraqi people, even if this results in the Union being seen by some as little more than an "international NGO", says Romano Prodi.

Speaking after last week's EU summit, the Commission president admitted that the Union's eagerness to get humanitarian aid into the conflict zone might lead critics outside the bloc to be dismissive about the role it can play.

"But what are we supposed to do?" asked Prodi.

A Council of Ministers official admitted there is a serious riskof the Union's image being downgraded in the eyes of global public opinion as an "NGO-EU".

"The world could get the wrong message about who we are. The way we act now, and we have been acting in the past, reads like an NGO-like CV: we jump to offer money and humanitarian assistance wherever is needed in the world."

In order to correct this impression, said the French official, the EU should not scale down its humanitarian action, but increase its political impact on the world scene.

At the summit last week, Prodi urged EU government leaders to overcome their divisions over military action in Iraq and focus on the urgent needs of the civilian population caught up in the war.

The Commission agreed at an extraordinary meeting last Friday to increase the amount of money available for humanitarian aid.

In addition to the €21 million already committed, it will ask the European Parliament and Council of Ministers to release another €79 million from the emergency budget reserve. That would make €100 million available.

Commission officials said the EU was ready to send tents, food and medicine to Iraq.

The European Union must urgently provide relief aid to the Iraqi people, even if this results in the EU being seen by some as little more than an 'international NGO', says Commission President Romano Prodi.