“The complex forms of poverty call for the application of a multi-faceted policy that is part of a global strategy,” said State Secretary Hans Winkler after his talks with Hilary Benn, UK International Development Secretary, and Lord David Triesman, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the UK Foreign Office. “We cannot eliminate world poverty from one day to the next, but we can set the course in that direction.” With a share of 55%, the EU is the largest donor of public development aid in the world today, and thus plays a leading role in the war against poverty.
At the end of last year, the EU agreed shared goals, such as the fight against poverty and sustainable development, based on democracy, observance of human rights and dialogue based on partnership with developing countries, in a bid to increase the effectiveness of the resources provided. “We must now further develop the EU’s leading role and honour our commitments,” continued Winkler. The foundation for this is an agreement on the financial basis of the EU (Financial Perspective 2007-2013) that the Council is currently negotiating with the European Parliament. “Our UK colleagues and the UK Presidency of the past half-year have taken significant initiatives and carried out valuable preparatory work on European Development Cooperation (EDC). During today’s talks we were able to coordinate our positions on the financial questions relevant to EDC and on further procedures for implementing the Africa strategy,” said the State Secretary.
The talks with Kim Darroch, the European policy adviser to Prime Minister Blair, focused on the Constitutional Treaty and the related debate on the future as well as the current developments in the Middle East and Iran.
“I consider tolerance and respect for other cultures and religions an indispensable element of human coexistence. It is in the nature of democracy that rights can be exercised in a responsible manner. Thus, freedom of opinion is an important component of democracy. To combine both of these requires sensitivity as well as a constant readiness for open dialogue. On the other hand, the use of violence and the misuse of injured feelings are never acceptable,” said Winkler in connection with the ongoing attacks and threats against European citizens and institutions abroad. “International obligations aim to protect European citizens and institutions. These obligations must be observed and further acts of violence must be prevented at all cost,” continued the State Secretary.
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