Speech by Foreign Minister
Joschka Fischer

Special meeting of the Afghanistan Support Group,
Berlin, 27 September 2001

Mr Oshima,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Given their present desperate plight, the people of Afghanistan have probably never been in such sore need of our
help as they are now. So I would like to thank you all very much for coming to Berlin at such short notice for this special
meeting of the Afghanistan Support Group. The destructive impact of the horrific terrorist attacks of 11 September is still with us, its repercussions are now being felt also by millions of innocent people in Afghanistan. The terrorists' tracks point ever more clearly towards Osama bin Laden, towards Afghanistan. And one thing is now becoming increasingly apparent: the country's rulers have no scruples whatsoever about holding the Afghan people hostage or pulling their own countrymen with them into the abyss. We are mindful, too, at this time of the eight foreign aid workers - among them four Germans - who are still in detention in Kabul. We are continuing to do everything we can to ensure their safety and rapid release.
In response to the Taliban regime's cruel and repressive policies, we hope today's meeting will send loud and clear a
twofold message:

(1) Firstly, we will not abandon the people of Afghanistan in their misery, we will employ every possible instrument of
humanitarian aid to relieve hunger and suffering.
(2) After over twenty years of war and destruction, we are willing to help in the task of national reconstruction, to help
build a new Afghanistan in which terror will have no place and no future. I am of course aware of the formidable problems at the present time in delivering humanitarian aid inside Afghanistan, problems that to some degree may make such aid impossible. The Taliban have forced all foreign aid workers to leave. They have confiscated all the World Food Programme's supplies, which are urgently needed to feed the population. Nevertheless, there is an imperative need for massive
humanitarian assistance by the international community. The prolonged drought is causing increasing devastation. There is a
refugee crisis of gigantic proportions. There is more fighting to come. However limited the assistance we can provide inside
Afghanistan itself, there are two things that we certainly can do: firstly, we can provide still more aid for the Afghan
refugees in neighbouring countries; and secondly, we can make clear how much humanitarian assistance we are already providing in the areas of Afghanistan controlled by the Northern Alliance, assistance which we will immediately resume to the rest of the country as soon as the situation allows and a degree of stability is restored. We in Germany are doing our share, pledging in the past few days a massive increase in humanitarian aid. As part of the security package approved by the Federal Cabinet, the Federal Foreign Office is to receive an additional DM 30 million for assistance to the region.
At this of all times we must and will demonstrate that our humanitarian values, our good will towards our fellow-men and
women knows neither religious nor regional boundaries. Humanitarian aid comes with no political strings attached. To
relieve human suffering is its sole objective, it has no political agenda. This humanitarian imperative is the real mandate of the
Afghanistan Support Group. But we would be well advised also to look ahead to the future. Today's meeting also has a significant political dimension: it must send out a message of hope. People in Afghanistan are entitled to know that, once a
process of political stabilization is under way, the international community stands ready after decades of war and
destruction to help rebuild the country and generate sustainable development, to help give people in Afghanistan the chance of a brighter and more peaceful future. How best to resolve the political problems is an issue to be discussed in other fora. The United Nations will certainly have a key role to play in developing a framework and a process capable of bringing together Afghanistan's major political forces with a view to restoring political stability. Germany has consistently supported the UN's efforts in this area - especially those of the Secretary-General's Special Representative Francesc Vendrell - and will continue to do so with all the means at its disposal. We want to defeat terror and we shall succeed - but we also want to see a peaceful and free Afghanistan that will play its part in ensuring the region's long-term stability.

Speedy and effective humanitarian aid to alleviate the suffering of millions of people and, looking further ahead, the
prospect of reconstruction: those are important stepping-stones towards that goal. I hope that we will today make some headway in achieving the immensely difficult but also immensely important task we have set ourselves.
Thank you.

Advanced Search    Help

Statements & Speeches

Subscribe Here You can also read the current issues here.

Printer-Friendly Page