Motion for a resolution - B7-0204/2012Motion for a resolution
B7-0204/2012

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the situation in Mali

18.4.2012 - (2012/2603 (RSP))

to wind up the debate on the statement by the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
pursuant to Rule 110(2) of the Rules of Procedure

Charles Goerens, Louis Michel, Robert Rochefort, Ramon Tremosa i Balcells, Niccolò Rinaldi, Graham Watson, Izaskun Bilbao Barandica, Marielle de Sarnez, Johannes Cornelis van Baalen on behalf of the ALDE Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B7-0201/2012

Procedure : 2012/2603(RSP)
Document stages in plenary
Document selected :  
B7-0204/2012
Texts tabled :
B7-0204/2012
Debates :
Texts adopted :

B7‑0204/12

European Parliament resolution on the situation in Mali

(2012/2603 (RSP))

The European Parliament,

‑–         having regard to the statements by Catherine Ashton, Vice President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, on the military coup in Mali,

 

–          having regard to the statement by the Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Department on preventing the humanitarian crisis in Mali,

 

–                having regard to the statements of the UN Security Council on the military coup,

 

–          having regard to the 2006 Algiers Agreements for the restoration of peace, security and development in northern Mali,

 

–          having regard to the framework agreement signed on 6 April 2012 between the military junta and the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS),

 

–                      having regard to its earlier resolutions on West Africa,

 

A.  whereas the coup that overthrew the Malian President Amadou Toumani Touré in the night of 21-22 March 2012 put an end to a long democratic process initiated more than two decades ago;

 

B.  whereas the international community has unanimously condemned this coup which occurred a few weeks before the presidential elections that had been scheduled for 29 April;

 

C.  having regard to the Framework Agreement on the restoration of law and constitutional order under the supervision of ECOWAS and its mediator, President Blaise Compaoré;

 

D.  whereas the President who was overthrown by the Bamako junta signed a resignation letter as requested by the mediators, thus opening the way to the appointment of the President of the Malian National Assembly;

 

E.  whereas, following the resignation of the President, a government of national unity is to prepare new elections in the next few months and will work towards a solution in the North;

 

F.  whereas a joint ECOWAS/UN force has been put in place to support the transitional government in Mali;

 

G.  whereas the North of Mali is under the control of the Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA);

 

H.  whereas a radical Islamic group, Ansar al‑Din, has seized the towns of Kidal and Timbuktu;

 

I.  whereas on 8 March 2012 the rebels taking refuge in the Kidal region released the 22 soldiers and the MP they had been holding hostage since August 2007;

 

J.  whereas the series of abductions for which responsibility has been claimed by the shadowy Al-Qaida Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is still under way and whereas on 15 April a Swiss Christian missionary was kidnapped in Timbuktu by a group which is already holding 13 Westerners hostage;

 

K.  whereas, following the destruction of their bases and provisions, most humanitarian organisations have left the North of the country;

 

L.  whereas the fighting has left dozens of people dead in the past few weeks;

 

M.  whereas hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced and masses of refugees are leaving the towns of Gao and Timbuktu for Mauritania;

 

N.  whereas the fragility of the Libyan state, the violence between Libyan tribes and the enormous arsenal of uncontrolled weapons, following the return of well-equipped mercenaries to Mali, risk having disastrous consequences for the security and stability of all countries in the Sahel region and West Africa;

 

O.  whereas the Sahel region, weakened by droughts, has been undermined by regional tensions, drugs and arms trafficking and serious political instability;

 

P.  whereas the frequency of climate incidents and food crises in the Sahel has increased since the mid-1990s;

 

Q.  whereas the Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Department has warned of an imminent major disaster if security is not improved;

 

R.  whereas the European Union has released an extra EUR 9 million in financial aid for the estimated 1.4 million Malians who are in need of food aid;

 

S.  whereas the Union has frozen development aid following the military coup;

 

T.  whereas the Union has already agreed to send a civilian mission to support efforts to restore security in Mali;

 

U.  whereas in February 2012 the UN agencies, meeting in Rome, requested around USD 725 million (EUR 545 million) in emergency aid to help the Sahel region where some 12 million people are threatened with famine;

 

V.  having regard to the consequences of this new political crisis for democracy in Africa;

 

W.  whereas the election, without confrontations or violence, of the opposition politician Macky Sall as President of Senegal on Sunday 25 March is one of the few recent pieces of good news for the Sahel periphery;

 

1.       Condemns the military coup which has overthrown the democratically elected government of Mali;

 

2.       Supports the driving role played by ECOWAS in managing the crisis and demands the implementation of the agreement signed on 6 April 2012 by the perpetrators of the coup in Mali and the mediator from the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS);

 

3.       Stresses the need to respect the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Mali;

4.       Expresses its deep concern at the growing threat presented by extremist groups in the North of Mali and calls for the immediate freeing of all those who have been kidnapped and an immediate end to hostilities;

5.       Stresses the urgency of finding a post-Gadaffi era strategy for the Sahel region, which is in danger of becoming a lawless area;

6.       Is deeply concerned at the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Sahel region;

7.       Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Commission, the UN Security Council, the African Union, ECOWAS and its mediator, President Blaise Compaoré, and its President, Alassane Ouattara, the government of Algeria, the Co-Presidents of the ACP/EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, and the Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA).