Depuis fort longtemps, il est constaté et déploré que « l’UE n’existe pas aux Nations Unies » (1) et que cette absence est le reflet de la faiblesse relative de la « politique étrangère et de sécurité commune » en dépit des dispositions du Traité qui n'y consacrent pas moins de … 25 articles dédiés (art. 21 à 46 TUE).
Qui plus est, le Traité prévoit explicitement que « les États membres coordonnent leur action au sein des organisations internationales et lors des conférences internationales. Ils défendent dans ces enceintes les positions de l’Union » (art. 34§1 TUE). De fait, les diplomates des États membres postés auprès des instances de l’ONU tentent bien d’effectuer cette « coordination » mais les directives fixées par leurs gouvernements respectifs ne leur laissent qu’une faible marge de manœuvre. Le résultat est parfois un éparpillement spectaculaire des votes des délégations nationales - comme ce fut le cas en décembre 2023 lors d’un vote sur la situation à Gaza à l’Assemblée générale (2)
Lors de la dernière session du Conseil de sécurité et de l’Assemblée générale des Nations Unies (septembre 2024 à New York) , ce sont certains États membres - dont la France - qui ont tenté unilatéralement d’influencer les débats et d’y promouvoir les valeurs et les intérêts européens, notamment dans le contexte de la guerre en Iran et du conflit palestinien.
Il est cependant encourageant de relever que - lors de cette session - deux voix se sont élevées au nom de l’Union pour exprimer le point de vue « européen » : celles de M. Charles Michel Président du Conseil européen et de M. Josep Borrell Haut Représentant. Ils n’étaient pas officiellement mandatés pour le faire et ont pu s’exprimer assez librement et courageusement en se basant sinon sur une position unanime des États membres du moins sur un consensus assez largement majoritaire au sein du Conseil (européen). Et ce d’autant plus librement qu’il s’agissait de leur ultime intervention avant l’expiration de leur mandat.
C’est pour cette raison que nous proposons ici le texte complet de leurs interventions (passées largement inaperçues de la presse). Même si l’audience onusienne n’a sans doute pas été dupe de cette tentative de présenter une position européenne unie et commune, ces deux hauts responsables ont ainsi, en quelque sorte, sauvé l’honneur et montré les couleurs de l’Union.
Saluons ici, en particulier, le travail inlassable et souvent isolé accompli par M. Josep Borrell lors de ces cinq dernières années en espérant que la nouvelle Haute Représentante, Mme Kaja Kallas saura faire fructifier cet héritage (3).
JG Giraud 29/09/2024
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(1) https://www.lesamisdutraitedelisbonne.com/post/2018/09/29/-aux-nations-unies-nous-sommes-ridicules
Speech by President Charles Michel at the UN Security Council open debate on leadership for peace
A new world is being born outside these windows. A world where the biggest gun, the sharpest knife, the fastest warplane, the heaviest bomb, and the loudest voice win out, and the peaceful lose out.
As we sit in this hall of diplomacy, a world of raw force and brute power rages outside, in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Sudan.
Look down at your hands. Do you see fingers made to pull the trigger of a gun? Or hands made to build a bridge, a school, a hospital? And when you look at your neighbour, do you see an enemy to conquer? Or a fellow human being?
We are all responsible for what is happening outside these windows. But some clearly more than others.
A permanent seat on this Security Council is not a privilege, it is a responsibility — a grave responsibility bestowed on only five nations: to be the guardians of world peace. Today some of these members are not living up to their responsibility.
Back in 1945, the world wanted peace at all costs. We accepted your right to veto in exchange for securing global peace. This was the founding pact between the most powerful nations and the rest of the world, underpinned by the UN Charter and the new multilateral institutions.
But today, this pact is under constant assault. Every bomb that falls in Kyiv, every hospital demolished in Gaza, every village destroyed in Sudan, each of these tragedies is one more attack on our humanity.
When these crimes go unpunished, they become ‘normal’, they become the way of the world, they become the law. When crimes go unpunished, the victims lose faith, we all lose faith. And a new, more brutal world is born. This is not the world I want to hand over to my children, to our children.
The Security Council must be reformed, to make it more inclusive, more legitimate, and more effective.
When Russia invades Ukraine to wipe out Ukraine’s culture and language, this does not build Russia up, it tears Russia down in the eyes of the world.
When Hamas kills and kidnaps Israelis, this does not give Palestinians a state, it causes unspeakable suffering.
When Israel illegally occupies Palestinian soil for decades, and kills tens of thousands of innocent women and children, this does not strengthen Israel’s security, it makes Israel less safe. The latest military escalation in Lebanon is more than irresponsible, it makes the region and the world less safe.
And when two warring generals in Sudan take an entire nation hostage, millions go hungry, millions flee their homes, millions lose hope.
The worth of a nation — the worth of a community — is not measured by its capacity for violence, nor by the strength of its armies.
The worth of a nation is measured by its willingness to lift others up and to take the next small step to make the world more peaceful.
The European Union is a power for peace and security, and that will never change. In all the darkness, we must be a spark bringing more light and more hope to the world.
Together, we can make a difference. Together, we can again change the course of history.
But it will take courage, daring, and leadership. It is time for all the permanent members of this Council to live up to their historic responsibility.
Lebanon: Address by High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell at the emergency meeting of the UN Security Council
26.09.2024
New York
Cher Président,
Nous parlons d’une région du monde ou le pire est généralement certain.
Where the worst is generally ‘vrai’.
So, I would, first and foremost, [like] to express my sympathy for the Lebanese people who have clearly, for a long time, been hostage of a conflict that they do not deserve, and which is far beyond them.
We all know the tragic situation in recent months. You have been explaining it and I will not repeat it. 60,000 Israeli inhabitants forced to leave their homes since October. Now 200,000 Lebanese on the roads forced to flee the fighting while their houses have been systematically destroyed. They will not have anywhere to come back.
I am not going to play the game of blaming one more than the other. But what I know is three things.
First, escalation will not solve anything because war does not solve anything.
Second, what is happening in southern Lebanon cannot be separated from what is happening in Gaza. One thing influences the other. But at the same time, we have to do everything to avoid that southern Lebanon becomes a new Gaza. And it is becoming a new Gaza.
As [the] Secretary-General [of the United Nations, António Guterres] said at United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), and as many of you have said, when the communication devices were exploding – targeted in its purpose, but indiscriminate in their consequences – they have put the Lebanese people in the night under terror.
The third is that there is a legal basis for settling the Israeli-Lebanese conflict. And this basis, you know, is this famous Resolution 1701. The little problem is that it has been approved more than 20 years ago. 20 years ago – without being implemented.
So, what can we do in the face of [this] escalation, in the face of this procession of death, while the cannons’ sound is behind us? I heard le canon, when I was visiting the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) headquarters some days ago. And I am asking this question to the Security Council.
And allow me, and excuse me, but sometimes I wonder if it is not better for the [Security] Council to talk about Insecurity - who registers crises, recriminations, and grievances, without solving them. And when they agree on something, not being able to implement it. What a tragedy.
So now, it is up to all of us to do something for a ceasefire along the Blue Line, so that the instinct for life can take precedence over the instinct for death. So that the terrible fatalism that is ours today, in the face of so much horror, can be overcome.
Before coming here, I had the opportunity to speak with the families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. Still [held], for almost one year. So, I know how this tragic situation is affecting everyone, Palestinians, Israelis, and now Lebanese.
And I saw some days ago at the Rafah border – by the way, closed – once again, listening the cannon, how the tragic situation in Gaza calls to our conscience.
So please, let's try to call unanimously for the suspension of hostilities along the Blue Line and implementation of this famous Resolution 1701.
What else can we do? At least let's agree on that and try to make it implemented.
Let's call for restraint to avoid the trap of fatality, the one that would have us believe that there is nothing to be done. Yes, something has to be done.
That is the only thing I can do. But naming things is essential. You have to put a name to the things, because refusing to name things only adds to the worst tragedy.
Thank you.
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