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Annan seeks EU support for UN reforms
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-12-17 21:03
BRUSSELS, Belgium - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan sought European
support Friday for his plan to give regional heavyweights such as Brazil and
Japan more clout at the United Nations.
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| French President Jacques Chirac (L) speaks with UN General
Secretary Kofi Annan (R) as Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez
Zapatero stands behind during a family photo at the European Council
building during a familly photo session of a European Union heads of state
summit in Brussels December 17, 2004.
[Reuters] | Europeans, for their part, were eager to discuss the U.N. role in monitoring
elections next month in Iraq, where Annan has been reluctant to reinforce his
small team of experts.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair met Annan before the U.N. chief was to
address a full session of 25 EU leaders.
A British official said the breakfast meeting avoided the summit's main
topic, Turkey's bid for EU membership and its refusal to recognize the divided
Mediterranean island of Cyprus.
Annan pushed hard last year to resolve the Cyprus dispute, but his efforts
were rebuffed when the Greek Cypriot government rejected his unification plan,
even though it was embraced by Turkish Cypriots.
The European Union has been among Annan's staunchest supporters as he
tries to ward off criticism from U.S. conservatives over Iraq's oil-for-food
program. Saddam Hussein's regime skimmed billions of dollars from the
U.N.-supervised program.
In Brussels, Annan wants firm support from Europe's leaders for a plan to
expand and reshape the Security Council and to set clearer guidelines for its
members to use pre-emptive force.
The U.N. chief commissioned the plan last year after the battle at the United
Nations over U.S. policy in Iraq. The 16-member panel recently issued its
report.
The commission agreed the Security Council may need "to be more proactive in
the future," but it said all states have an obligation to discuss distant
threats at an early stage.
Annan believes the 15-nation council, with its exclusive five-nation club at
its core, needs to be reviewed to reflect power shifts in the world since the
United Nations was created in 1945.
The plan also outlined ways to deal with global threats — terrorism, poverty,
infectious diseases and multinational crime.
A restructuring of the Security Council could fuel anger at Annan in the
United States if the changes are seen as diluting U.S. authority. The United
States shares veto powers with Britain, China, France and Russia.
The panel failed to reach a consensus on the Security Council's future shape
and presented two options. One would add six new permanent members, but without
veto powers. The other would create a new tier of eight semi-permanent members;
two each from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.
Panel members agreed only that the current five permanent members should
retain the veto.
Before the plan was released, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kim R. Holmes
said any shake-up should be done "without making the Council any more unwieldy
than it already is." Those responsible for funding and carrying out its
decisions should have the most say, he said.
Brazil, Germany, India and Japan are among those countries that claim to have
achieved regional superpower status and have been pressing for permanent seats.
In Washington on Thursday, Annan met outgoing Secretary of State Colin
Powell and his designated successor, National Security Adviser Condoleezza
Rice. The U.S. administration has been asking the U.N. chief to reinforce the 25
election experts now in Iraq.
"We have enough people in there to do the work," Annan said, as he stood with
Powell. "And if need be, we'll put in the staff we need to get the work done.
It's not a question of numbers; it's a question of what you need to get the job
done."
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