Press Encounter with German Federal Defence Minister Rudolf Scharping (unofficial transcript)

Scharping (translation): Ladies and gentlemen, we talked about the situation in the Balkans, about peace keeping operations in general, about the role of the United Nations and that it must be strengthened, and about German contributions. Not only the contribution in the Balkans, but also - as recognized by Kofi Annan and the United Nations - for example we have also helped in Mozambique and in East Timor, and I said that we will continue to be willing, and moreover interested, in a strengthening of the United Nations overall, not only through the contributions of the German Army but also the Police, as well as the strengthening of international law. Moreover, I am happy to meet with an old, and very likeable, friend.

SG: Let me say that I was also very happy to see the Defence Minister again. I always enjoy our encounters and the discussions we hold, and we also did talk about the Small Arms Conference in New York and I was really happy to hear that Germany has destroyed large numbers of these weapons. It was 1.5 million, which proves that it can be done. It is essential that we come to grips with these weapons, which are doing lots of harm in our communities, with criminals, with the drug traffickers, with war lords in war zones. It will be very essential that the whole world comes together and makes us sustain the effort to eliminate these weapons and to curb them, and I will do whatever I can working with civil society and governments to curb these weapons. And I am very, very grateful for the participation of the German Government and the support they have given us in all our activities. They are playing a key leadership role in the political and conceptual aspects of our work, and I hope it will continue.

Q: Mr. Secretary, the Minister just talked about a stronger German role for the United Nations. What kind of a role should that be and do you foresee a stronger role in the Middle East? Do you foresee a German participation with German observers on the ground?

SG: I think the German participation has been strong and I hope it will continue in areas of economic and social development, poverty alleviation, it will continue on the issue of the fight against AIDS. It will continue in peace keeping activities and it will also continue in our search for peace everywhere in the world, particularly in the Middle East. I think Europe has a role to play, and so does the US and the UN and other regions, particularly the leaders in the Middle East. The question of German troop presence in the Middle East was not discussed because it is not a real issue at this stage.

Q: I didn't ask about troops, I asked about observers on the ground, which are not military personnel. This is a new plan developed by the French and the German government.

SG: This is for the Middle East?

(Q:): Right, we are talking about the Middle East.

SG: I think there is a broad discussion on the search for peace in the Middle East and I would hope that if the time comes that contribution of that kind is needed, that Germany will play a role.

Q: Do you see it the same, Mr. Minister?

Scharping (translation): First of all my view is that to secure peaceful developments in the Middle East a lot more is needed than just sending observers there now. The Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs has certainly contributed a lot in a very critical situation to achieve at least a halfways reasonable ceasefire. Now both sides in the conflict have to reach agreement and introduce developments that allow discourse on the question of international participation through observation, through economic support or other means. We are not that far yet.

SG: Let me add something then. You talked of a Plan with the French and the Germans. I am not familiar with that Plan, but what some of us have discussed is perhaps a need for a third-party monitoring mechanism to help the parties move ahead with the implementation of the whole Mitchell Plan and in my own discussions with other leaders I have suggested that not only do we need a third-party monitoring mechanism, but it would also be helpful if we had the timetable for the implementation of the Plan.

Q: But would you welcome a German presence, a German participation there?

SG: I don't think we are this stage yet because on this we haven't even defined what the third-party monitoring mechanism would be. So I really don't want to be drawn on that but if we were to get to that stage we will discuss it.

Q: [Not audible, on ceasefire]

SG: Well it's not ideal. There have been incidents, but I think the level of violence is considerably down and I would hope that this trend will continue and that we can move forward very quickly to the implementation of other phases of the Mitchell Plan.

Q: How could you stop the escalations then?

SG: I think to stop the escalation one needs to work with the parties and the parties have to make a real effort to stop the escalation and there has to be confidence-building measures. There has to be real desire to move forward and they have to be prepared to deal with each other. Of course there is that deep mistrust and that is why I have a sense that they will need some international help to do it. I don't think, left to themselves, given the depth of the mistrust, it will happen as quickly as we would want it to see it happen. *****