EU leaders have declared they will "face up to our global responsibilities" as they made some progress yesterday towards healing the bitter divisions caused by the invasion of Iraq, writes Mark Brennock in Athens
As they prepared to meet the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, this morning, the EU heads of state and government were expected to call for an "important role" for the UN in post-war Iraq.
Such a declaration would unite all member states, as it avoids taking a precise position on how strong a role the UN should have vis-à-vis the Pentagon, which has been steering early moves towards a new Iraqi government.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs yesterday reflected the desire for consensus, stating that whether the UN took "the leading role" or "a leading role" in post-war Iraq was unimportant.
"The issue is how do we effectively bring about an end to this conflict, how do we look after the short-term, immediate humanitarian needs of the people of Iraq, and how do we set about providing a government representative of the people of Iraq in the soonest possible timeframe consistent with security, stability and the territorial integrity of that country. Everybody is agreed that that is now the work that is before us," Mr Cowen said.
However, the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, said the UN should be involved in rebuilding post-war Iraq and not just humanitarian relief.
The Taoiseach said there was no question of the UN becoming involved in stabilising the security situation in the short term. Mr Annan had told him in a meeting last night he had "enough to deal with in the humanitarian issues", and that other issues would arise in due course.
Amid signs of a thaw in the extremely frosty relations brought about by the war, Mr Blair's official spokesman yesterday described as "very positive" a meeting yesterday between Mr Blair and the French President, Mr Jacques Chirac. On the margins of the summit the two discussed Iraq, the Middle East and EU issues, Mr Blair's spokesman said.
Mr Blair, Mr Chirac and all EU leaders agree the UN should play a major role in post-war Iraq. However, Mr Blair's spokesman said Britain believed it was too early for a new UN resolution on the future of Iraq.
A number of countries, including Germany, have sought such a resolution.
The Blair/Chirac talks came amid signs of some improvement in Franco/US relations this week. Having previously insisted that only the UN could legitimately oversee change in Iraq, President Chirac made it known this week it could accept a gradual involvement of the world body while US and British forces ran the country.
Mr Ahern remarked that "the tensions that we have had in recent weeks in Europe was not around today."
In another development, the Danish Prime Minister, Mr Anders Fogh Rasmussen, surprised his EU colleagues by announcing he was sounding out European interest in contributing to a peacekeeping force in Iraq in response to a US request for Copenhagen to take part in stabilising the country.
Mr Rasmussen said he had talked to other EU leaders on the margins of the summit about whether they would contribute to a Danish-led, 3,000-member peacekeeping unit. He was responding to a request from Washington, he said.
The Taoiseach told reporters last night that he had received no such approach and would reject it if asked. "I wouldn't go near it unless it had a UN mandate," he said.
A spokesman for the Defence Forces said the Army had not been instructed to make any preparations to participate in any EU intervention in Iraq.
Any intervention force would have to be established by the UN to enable the Army to participate, it is understood.
Irish soldiers are not participating in the first European Security and Defence Policy mission in Macedonia. Though the UN is supporting the mission, the organisation did not establish it, leading the Attorney General to advise against participation.