More Europe” “

“The struggle for freedom, justice and equality cannot but exact a price. I don’t feel rancour for the many years I spent in prison: I did so for democracy, peace and the co-existence between the Kurdish and Turkish peoples”, said LEYLA ZANA on presenting herself to the European Parliament, meeting in solemn session in Brussels on Thursday, 14 October. Long dedicated to the defence of the rights of the peoples of Kurdistan, Leyla Zana has paid a high price for her battles: thirteen years in prison. Her speech before the EP was one of the most moving moments of the parliamentary session, which was also marked by the speech with which the outgoing President of the Commission, Romano Prodi, took his leave. He drew up a balance sheet of his five years at the helm of the Executive. “PEACE IN TURKEY WILL GIVE STABILITY TO THE MIDDLE EAST“. Leyla Zana, accompanied by her husband, he too imprisoned for several years, gave a powerful speech to the EP. In 1995 the Parliament of the EU had awarded her the Sakharov Prize for Human Rights; it was presented to her husband at the time (she was still in prison). “You did not give the Sakharov Prize to me, but to the peoples who live in Turkey and in my own land – said Leyla – for having paid the price of the violence that only brings with it other violence. You gave it to the children who have been left without families and who have been forced to renounce childhood due to the fighting. One should never say to a man or a woman ‘die’, one should only say ‘live and respect those who are living alongside you’.” As for the possible entry of Turkey into the EU, Leyla Zana declared that the process of rapprochement must “permit the development and defence of human rights”; this will also help “to give stability and restore peace to the whole Middle East”. Elected to the Parliament in Ankara in 1991, the young civil rights activist had given some speeches in her native language, then banned, urging peaceful co-existence between the Turkish majority and her people, which represents 20% of the national population and lives in the east of the Anatolian peninsula. For this activity she was arrested, tried, and sentenced to 15 years in jail. Only released in June 2004, Leyla Zana was finally able “to be received – said the president of the EP, the Spaniard JOSEP BORRELL – with the honours due to someone who had fought with determination for civil rights and for peace”. Alternating English with the Kurdish language, Borrell explained that “the battles of Leyla Zana have produced their positive effects: the conflict between Kurds and Turks has now ended, capital punishment has been abolished, and the use of the language of this people is no longer banned”. POLITICAL BALANCE SHEET OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION. The session of the EP comprised a varied agenda, including a summing up of the achievements of the Commission that has been in office since 1999 and that will reach the end of its term on 31 October. “The unification of Europe through the enlargement to 10 new countries, a clear calendar for the other candidate countries and a concrete prospect for the full integration of all the countries of the Balkans, represent – said Prodi – the greatest contribution that the Union could give to the stabilization and political, economic and cultural growth of the whole continent”. The Italian ROMANO PRODI has led the Executive in years of great transformations for the Union. Claiming credit for the introduction of the euro and “the positive outcome of the process that led to the Constitution”, Prodi underlined the need to “have more Europe”, “build peace”, and “increase dialogue and the method of negotiation, the only way of exporting democracy”. Nor did he fail to speak of the difficulties encountered over the last five years, of the commitment to “realize European citizenship” and “make the Union a protagonist on the world stage”. During the debate, EP President Borrell thanked Prodi and his Commission “on behalf of the Parliament and peoples of Europe”, “for having always worked to make the Union grow and for having achieved historic transformations that will remain as landmarks in the history of the Community”. THE PARLIAMENT ASKS FOR A CLEAR TIMETABLE FOR THE RATIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. The session was also characterized by the discussions that followed the auditions of the commissioners-designate: the vote on the future Executive is due to take place at Strasbourg on 27 October. One of the more significant acts of the session was a Resolution inviting the European Council to seek a “coordinated approach” to the national procedures for the ratification of the Constitutional Treaty. The EP invites member states to create the necessary conditions to ensure that citizens really get to know the text of the Constitution; it is suggested that a single period be chosen for the referendums and for the votes in the national parliaments (from 5 to 8 May), and that the ratification procedures be concluded in any case by June 2006; lastly, Council and Commission are asked “to draw up a suitable strategy for the referendum campaign and communication”. The EP itself will express its view on the text of the Constitution immediately after its official signing, which will take place in Rome on 29 October.