Thank you, Chairman, and members of the committee. I welcome the opportunity to meet with the committee again to review the issues on the agenda of the Foreign Affairs Council for the first quarter of this year. With your permission, Chairman, I propose to focus first on the situation in Syria and then provide a read out on the other key items featured on the council's agenda so far this year.
I am aware that the committee is following developments in Syria with deep concern. All right thinking people have been outraged by the images of helpless civilian populations being bombarded and massacred by state security forces. The grim facts of this conflict are truly horrifying. There have been credible reports of more than 7,500 people killed since last March, an estimated 200,000 people internally displaced and 35,000 who have fled to other countries as refugees.
According to the latest report of the Commission of Inquiry established by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate events in Syria, state forces stand accused of committing widespread, systematic and gross human rights violations which amount to crimes against humanity. They have done this apparently with the knowledge and consent of President Assad and his regime.
There is no doubt about the widespread international revulsion. This is evident from the overwhelming support for various resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council in recent weeks. It was also evident at the initial meeting of the Friends of the Syrian People group which I attended in Tunis on 24 February - and where more than 70 countries gathered to voice their support for the Syrian people and for international efforts to end the conflict and to promote peaceful democratic transition within Syria. There is an obligation on the international community to do all it can to end the violence and suffering of the Syrian people and to help them to chart a new way forward. The immediate priority must be to secure a ceasefire which will end the indiscriminate shelling of cities such as Homs and Rastan and at the same time provide the UN, International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, and others with humanitarian access. In this regard, I welcome the decision to allow the UN Emergency Relief Co-ordinator, Baroness Valerie Amos, to travel to Damascus today.
Ireland has pledged to make up to €500,000 available to the ICRC and UN agencies operating in Syria as well as in neighbouring countries. These funds will be used both to provide immediate relief to those affected by the fighting and to pre-position emergency supplies for use in the event that the situation deteriorates further. In addition, my colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for trade and development, Deputy Joe Costello, has placed Irish Aid's rapid response corps on standby and offered emergency stockpiles to aid agencies as part of their response. Like many others at the Tunis meeting, I warmly welcomed the decision to appoint the former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, as joint special envoy of the UN and Arab League. Kofi Annan brings a wealth of experience to this challenging assignment and is already actively pursuing his mandate, including exploring the possibility of his visiting Syria later this week.
The European Union has, of course, also been actively involved in the crisis. We have expressed strong support for the efforts of the Arab League to mediate a settlement. We have also imposed several rounds of sanctions targeted on the Assad regime. A further such round of sanctions was agreed at last month's Council, including an asset freeze imposed on the Syrian Central Bank. Last Friday, the European Council made clear the EU's readiness to impose further sanctions and to escalate the pressure on the Assad regime for as long as the violence and human rights abuses continue. The European Council also reiterated its call on President Assad to step aside so as to allow a political transition to begin.
It is, of course, regrettable that the UN Security Council has so far failed to agree a resolution on the situation. It was at least a step in the right direction that the Council was able to agree a presidential statement last week which condemned the lack of humanitarian access in Homs and regretted Syria's failure to facilitate a visit by the UN Emergency Relief Co-ordinator. I welcome the fact that discussions have now got underway in New York on a new draft resolution which the US has prepared primarily addressing the humanitarian situation. I hope these discussions will have a more positive outcome on this occasion. I still believe it is incumbent upon the Security Council to live up to its responsibilities in the area of the maintenance of international peace and security and to adopt a resolution at the earliest opportunity on the situation in Syria. No other action could better convey to the Syrian regime the strength of the international condemnation of what is happening in Syria. I made the point at last week's Foreign Affairs Council that the EU and others must work closely with Russia and China so as to lay the basis for a unified Security Council position on this crisis.
In saying all this, we must also be realistic about what the international community can accomplish in relation to Syria. I detect no appetite anywhere for any form of external intervention. This also extends to any idea of arming those now opposed to the Syrian regime. We must never fail to remember that Syria is a country through which many fault-lines - whether political, ethnic or religious - run. The worst-case scenario would be if Syria were to slip into an open civil war which would be profoundly destabilising for the entire region.
The Arab League peace plan still provides the most credible basis for resolving the crisis and allowing a political transition to get underway; it is, moreover, a plan which the Assad regime itself committed to supporting last November. We must also continue to encourage greater co-operation and co-ordination amongst the members of the Syrian opposition. At last month's Foreign Affairs Council, I pressed for the Syrian opposition to develop a common programme or set of principles before the next meeting of the Friends of the Syrian People group, which is scheduled for later this month.
I now turn to the other items on the Foreign Affairs Council's agenda in the first quarter of the year. On Iran, committee members will be aware that there was a substantive discussion of this issue by the Foreign Affairs Council in January. We adopted a further package of sanctions against Iran, including a phased oil embargo which will only properly take effect on 1 July next if there are no positive developments regarding Iran's nuclear programme in the meantime. We also decided to impose an asset freeze on the Iranian Central Bank. None of these additional restrictive measures were undertaken lightly. There was lengthy and intensive discussion in Brussels before agreement on this latest sanctions package was reached. It is no secret that a considerable number of member states, including Ireland, had reservations about imposing an oil embargo at a time when both the European and global economic situations remain so fragile. Nor have our doubts about the economic consequences of an oil embargo proved unfounded. World oil prices have increased by almost 30% in the past five months, with much of this increase concentrated in the period since the start of this year. However, whatever prior discussions there may have been, the fact is that all 27 EU member states fully supported the adoption of the latest sanctions in order to demonstrate increasing concern over Iran's nuclear programme. A report issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, last November clearly spelled out the possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear activities and the many questions it has failed to answer. Concerns have been heightened by the revelation that Iran has tripled its uranium enrichment up to the 20% level over the past four months.
The signs are that the tightening of sanctions and the growing international isolation of the Teheran regime are beginning to have a clear impact within Iran. The Iranian chief negotiator on the nuclear issue has now replied in generally constructive terms to a letter from High Representative Baroness Catherine Ashton last October which urged Iran to return to the negotiating table. I welcome the fact that Iran has responded, even if belatedly, to the invitation issued by EU High Representative, Baroness Ashton and the E3+3. I strongly believe that it is only through diplomatic negotiations that a solution can be found to the crisis of international confidence relating to Iran's nuclear programme.
In February, the Foreign Affairs Council discussed the current situation in Egypt and adopted conclusions on this subject. Overall, Egypt continues to make progress in its political transformation, though no one is under-estimating the scale of the challenges which remain. While the parliamentary elections held last December and January passed off relatively smoothly, the real challenge remains the upcoming presidential elections in May and the completion of a transfer of power to full civilian rule. Respect for the rule of law and for basic human rights and fundamental freedoms also needs to be strengthened in Egypt, particularly in light of recent incidents such as the well-publicised trial of a number of NGO activists. Ireland and its EU partners stand ready to assist Egypt on its path of political transition, a point I emphasised when I met Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mohammed Amr at the recent Friends of the Syrian People meeting in Tunis.
In January and February, the Foreign Affairs Council briefly reviewed developments in relation to the Middle East peace process. The lack of any real progress towards the launching of substantive peace talks remains a cause of serious concern. I believe that a particular responsibility falls on the EU at the present time to keep the political flame alight and to do whatever we can to encourage both sides back to the negotiating table. Nothing could be more helpful at this point than a clear demonstration of goodwill on Israel's part, through some form of confidence-building package which might help President Abbas and the Palestinian Authority to accept that there is something to be gained from resuming direct talks. I believe that the Foreign Affairs Council needs to think seriously about this issue, as well as others such as Palestinian reconciliation, if the current impasse is not to descend into a dangerous path of drift and inactivity.
I will press for a substantive discussion by the Council at a very early stage.
The issue of Belarus has been considered by the Foreign Affairs Council at both its January and February meetings. On 28 February, the General Affairs Council took a decision to extend EU sanctions against Belarus. The extended sanctions consist of a travel ban and an asset freeze which are targeted against 19 judges who imposed prison sentences on peaceful demonstrators on five or more occasions. At the March meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council, Ministers are likely to discuss what further measures can be taken against the Belarus regime with a view to achieving the release of political prisoners and resumption of a dialogue with the EU on reform.
In February, the Foreign Affairs Council discussed the southern Caucasus on the basis of draft conclusions which were adopted by consensus. Ministers welcomed progress made in the negotiations for association agreements with the three states concerned, including visa facilitation and deep and comprehensive free trade agreements. The association agreements offer greater European integration for the economies of the three southern Caucasus countries which will benefit the people of the region and may have a positive effect on the protracted conflicts in the region.
With regard to Georgia, Ministers expressed concern at Russian troop levels in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and called on the Russian Federation to fulfil its obligations under the ceasefire agreement of August 2008 and agree a non-use of force commitment. The Council also touched briefly on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, expressing concern at the slow progress of negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and voicing its support for the OSCE Minsk group co-chairs in their efforts to resolve the conflict. As members will be aware, the search for lasting settlements to the conflicts in the southern Caucasus is high on the agenda for Ireland's current chairmanship of the OSCE. I hope to be able to visit the region later this year in this context.
In January and February, the Foreign Affairs Council also reviewed progress in the dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo. These discussions fed into the wider consideration of Serbia's application for EU membership by the General Affairs Council and European Council. As members are aware, the European Council agreed to grant the status of candidate country to Serbia last week. In the January discussion, I reiterated Ireland's support for candidate status for Serbia, not least given the significant positive steps it has made in recent years in its relations with its neighbours and in respect of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
The discussion in February followed on directly from the resumption of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and agreements reached at that. There was a generally more positive attitude towards candidate status, along with recognition that the aspirations of both Serbia and Kosovo would have to be taken into account. Broad support was shown for a proposed feasibility study on a stabilisation and association agreement with Kosovo. This study will assess if the economic and legal conditions are appropriate for a stabilisation and association agreement, which is the first phase of a contractual relationship with the European Union.
Candidate status is only the first step on the road to EU membership. A further decision by the Council will be required to open accession negotiations. With parliamentary elections due in Serbia in April or May, I do not expect much more movement on this issue until after the summer. The elections, the manner in which they are conducted and the final results will all have an impact on Serbia's future EU progression. Nevertheless, the decision agreed last week is a concrete assurance to the Serb people of their future within the European Union. After a decade of conflict followed by a decade of recovery and stalemate, we are seeing a serious commitment on the part of Serbia to a future in Europe.
The Government remains closely engaged at both European Union and international level in monitoring the position in Burma and supporting the Burmese people in their struggle for democracy and human rights. I have been very encouraged by recent reforms and developments undertaken by the Burmese Government, including the release of a significant number of political prisoners and resumption of dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi. At the January Foreign Affairs Council meeting, we decided to ease sanctions on Burma by suspending the visa ban on high level members of the Burmese Government to underline our hope that Burma will continue along the path of political reform.
While the situation in Burma has improved, there is still much to achieve. I hope for continuing reform over coming months, including the unconditional release of all remaining political prisoners and further action from the Burmese Government in addressing the concerns of ethnic minority groups and towards the establishment of comprehensive human rights protection for the people of Burma. I remain optimistic that April's by-election in which Aung San Suu Kyi is due to stand will be characterised by free and fair conduct. I am hopeful that recent developments indicate a lasting change for the people of Burma and herald the beginning of a new era of peace, democracy and respect for human rights.
The January meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council also considered the situation in Sudan and South Sudan where tensions remain high and a number of disputed issues remain unresolved between the authorities in Khartoum and the newly independent Republic of South Sudan. Ministers expressed concern about continued conflict in disputed border areas, human rights issues on both sides of the border and the need for all parties to facilitate access for humanitarian relief. We urged both sides to refrain from violence, co-operate with the United Nations and African Union missions, fulfil their obligations under the terms of the 2005 comprehensive peace agreement and engage fully in dialogue to resolve outstanding issues.
Looking ahead, I will attend the traditional informal meeting of Foreign Ministers which will be hosted by the Danish Presidency in Copenhagen this weekend. We will take a strategic look at the direction of EU foreign policy against the backdrop of the economic crisis. Discussions are expected to cover a number of thematic areas, including a review of the European External Action Service following its first year in operation, the centrality of human rights to the European Union's internal and external policies and a discussion about how the EU can best effect change in countries such as Iran and Syria.
That concludes my comments on the business of the Foreign Affairs Council in the first quarter of this year. I am grateful to have had this opportunity to set them out to the joint committee and I will be pleased to respond to any questions which members may have.