madam president the report that we considered today has been approved virtually unanimously by the committee on foreign affairs of this parliament
it is the result of one year's work by a team which i led and is based on extensive consultations in kabul and brussels
this report is an attempt to explain a paradox why has so little been achieved in afghanistan in spite of nine years of international involvement
since two thousand and one military operations inside that country have cost more than eur three hundred billion and several thousand human lives and at least another eur forty billion have been spent on the civilian side in total more than thirty times the current afghan gdp
in spite of this huge effort afghanistan is still the number one producer of narcotic drugs
it is still one of the poorest countries in the world where for the majority of the afghan population life is short brutal and nasty as it was in our continent five centuries ago
there are more victims of maternal mortality alone in afghanistan than the war over twenty zero a year as against two three hundred
the answer to this paradox is not simple
the opium problem and the strength of the insurgency must be taken into account along with the belief in the illusion of a quick military victory which dominated the early years of the international presence
moreover the legitimacy of the central government has been overestimated as has the efficiency of international aid in the reconstruction of the country
this report does not try to simplify all these matters
it accepts the challenge in its full dimension and this document is an attempt to suggest new directions for our policies
the report approaches the subject from a european standpoint
this means that the afghan crisis is considered from an angle that does not simply mirror the american perspective on it
european values and principles matter
they influence the way the afghan problem is seen by european citizens and they do not believe in a military solution in principle because more than sixty-five years ago we abandoned the idea that war and occupation of foreign lands is good solution
today's eu is built on an aversion to war and this report reflects this feeling
on the specific issue of afghanistan eu citizens strongly support a civilian approach as an alternative to the use of force
our approach is not naive it is not as has been said venus's softness against mars's strength
it is instead the power of reason of human solidarity applied to a crisis like the afghan one that cannot be approached with a simplistic solution and mentality
this report proposes a strategy that does not exclude the limited use of coercive means
the security of the people of afghanistan from terrorists and criminal attacks is a prerequisite for development and this parliament believes that the combination of peace-keeping interventions multilateral diplomacy domestic peace negotiations effective poverty reduction measures the establishment of democratic institutions and the protection of women's rights are the pillars of a new winning strategy in afghanistan as elsewhere
i hope that the strategy which is outlined here will be implemented carefully by the new system and i take this opportunity to invite baroness ashton to join parliament in this endeavour
