Summary; this is not an official record of proceedings and specific remarks are not necessarily attributable.
"Opening his presentation president Karzai gave a historical overview of Afghanistan’s development since the Soviet invasion. When the Soviets invaded, the people of Afghanistan resisted them. The consequence of that war was millions of refugees. There was massive support for the freedom fighters. Afghanistan was being pressured by two extremes: the communist ideology and the imposition of religious extremism. The West, the USA and Europe were interested in defeating communism. The region also wanted to defeat the Soviet Union and saw the opportunity to influence Afghanistan.
Afghanistan suffered tremendously "not only during the invasion, but also after the Soviet Union withdrew". The West had achieved its purpose: "communism was destroyed and thus Afghanistan became irrelevant". The intervention of regional powers in Afghanistan and the importation of radical ideology led to instability, the break-down of institutions, chaos and finally to the arrival of the Taliban and terrorism.
President Karzai stressed that Afghanistan "warned the world repeatedly of the developments in Afghanistan, of the dangers". The destruction of his country was massive and Afghanistan could not longer raise a voice against the strong forces from outside.
September 11 occurred and terrorism has been recognised. The international community focused on Afghanistan that “received them with open arms. As soon as the US forces, the Coalition forces arrived, the Afghan people moved against the Taliban and terrorism.”
Since then the country has progressed substantially toward stability. President Karzai reminded the audience of the transfer of power, the Grand Councils (the second with regard to the Constitution), the establishment of different institutions, the elections… About 8.3 million people voted, 42% of whom were women. Now the administration is picking up the pace of preparations for the parliamentary elections. “Afghanistan will have laid the foundations for a secure, stable, prosperous, democratic country, but there are many challenges to be overcome. We are far away from achieving the objectives we have set to ourselves in cooperation with the International Community”, President Karzai said. The international community must remain conscious of the difficulties that still must be addressed, such as drugs production and trafficking ; attacks by terrorists; the lack of human resources, security forces and a strong administration.
Turning to the relations with his neighbours, President Karzai felt that the past three years Afghanistan has been a good example of cooperation with its neighbours. He highlighted the trade and export relations with Pakistan, Tajikistan, and China.
His prospects for the future of Afghanistan are that it will be a “democratic country”. He mentioned that the Constitution has guaranteed the participation of at least two women of each province in Afghanistan’s Parliament. "It has a free press and already four private TV channels". Afghanistan is a multi-ethnic society. Above all, it is an economic country, depending strongly on regional trade. And now Afghanistan seeks resources and wants to improve the standard of living.
Concerning international relations, President Karzai uttered he has a serious problem with the concept of nation interest. “I cannot define it. Is it the national interest against the interest of other nations?” He prefers a moral approach to international politics rather than defending national interest, which is going to hurt all of us.
Question and answer session
Questioned on whether the right of return of refugees is regulated, President Karzai said that the country has arrangements through the UNHCR and HRM. In the past three years 3.5 million Afghanistans returned from Iran, Pakistan, Europe… Those Afghans trained in Europe and America are a great asset in terms of human capacity. Those who returned from Iran and Pakistan are rebuilding their villages in rural and urban regions. He thanked all the countries who have helped the Afghan people.
On the prevention of poppies cultivation, the President said that this was a serious problem. It is an illegal reality. The suffering of the Afghan people, the lack of hope for the future, is the cause of the drugs production. There was a transformation from agriculture to poppy culture. Poppies grow easily. A real fight against poppies would require a two track approach: the destruction of poppies and the fields plus a parallel, strong approach to provide the farmers with an alternative life, an viable alternative economy.
What is the role of NGOs? They receive the vast majority of international funding, but in the field there is a lack of coordination. To what extent is the Afghan government following this situation? President Karzai admitted that he felt a serious concern about some NGOs. There are NGO that have done great work, like Médicins Sans Frontières, the Swedish Committee… and other NGOs. But some NGOs are spoiling money and work or don't fulfill their jobs. Afghan people don’t understand why the UN allows those NGOs to steal money. He added that an article of the newly adopted law says that NGOs are not allowed to engage in construction activity.
On regional security, Karzai is convinced that regional cooperation is what Afghanistan realy needs. The EU should serve as the best example of that. He hopes that leaders will recognize this. Afghanistan only sees prosperity in that framework and beyond the constraints of national interests. An important point is that the Afghanistan of today is a great example of cooperation between civilisations (US, China, Japan, Europe, Muslim world). "Cooperation between civilizations and not conflict between civilizations" is what matters.
Further information:
- on his CV and his address to the EU Parliament (May 10, 2005):
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http://europa-eu-un.org/articles/fr/article_4668_fr.htm
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http://europa-eu-un.org/articles/fr/article_4681_fr.htm
- 10/05/2005 - NATO
Visit to NATO by the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, H.E. Mr.
Hamid Karzai on Wednesday, 11 May 2005