| Author (Person) | Cronin, David |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.10, No.23, 24.6.04 |
| Publication Date | 24/06/2004 |
| Content Type | News |
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By David Cronin Date: 24/06/04 A NEW plan on addressing the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction, a cooperation accord on the Galileo satellite system and an initiative to fight AIDS look set to be the most concrete results of Saturday's EU-US summit (25 June), the Union's envoy to Washington Günter Burghardt has said. While Ireland's EU presidency is eager to present a united front with George W. Bush on key global issues, anti-war campaigners are hoping that thousands will join protests against the US occupation of Iraq during this first visit by America's current president to the state. Still, Burghardt voiced optimism that the summit will demonstrate that transatlantic ties are less strained than in the wake of the declaration of war on Saddam Hussein's regime last year. "There has been a clear effort by both sides to have a more normal way of dealing with each other," the ambassador said. The summit will be brief, even by the standards of compressed international summitry. President Bush flies in on Friday evening. The summit begins at 11am on Saturday with the final press conference scheduled for two hours and 40 minutes later. Unsurprisingly, the conclusions will be pre-cooked. Diplomats are attaching particular importance to a blueprint on weapons of mass destruction due to be signed at the summit. Under this, the EU and US could jointly approach third countries and impress on them the importance of signing and respecting a protocol of the International Atomic Energy Agency, designed to facilitate rigorous inspections of nuclear sites. "The most important idea is that the non-proliferation [of weapons of mass destruction] idea needs to be placed in the wider context of international efforts against terrorism," said Burghardt. "It goes hand-in-hand with stricter supervision with regard to money-laundering and things like this." Cooperation on the €3.2 billion Galileo satellite navigation system has been made possible due to a breakthrough in February. While Washington had previously viewed Galileo as a rival to its Global Positioning System (GPS), it has now given its blessing for both to use the same "free signal". This, it believes, will avoid potential interference by Galileo in the GPS military signal. On AIDS, the two sides are due to discuss how the fight against the killer disease can be made more effective. "Both sides have announced real money," Burghardt said. "But it's a question of putting your money where your mouth is. "The US side had already announced big figures last year; this is something President Bush addressed in his State of the Union speech in January 2003," he added, referring to Bush's request that Congress provide $15 billion (€12.4bn) to fight the pandemic over a five-year period. "AIDS is an area in which the US has trouble to implement big announcements. If these are implemented, however, we don't need any fresh money." The summit, during which Iraq's external debt, as well as Afghanistan, the global economy and America's "Greater Middle East" strategy are also likely to be discussed, could well be the last one which Burghardt will attend. The German has been in Washington since 2000 and his tenure comes to an end this year. |
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