For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 26, 2004
Text of U.S.-EU Declaration of Support for the People of Iraq
Dromoland Castle
Shannon, Ireland
The United States and the European Union share a common commitment in
our support for the Iraqi people and the fully sovereign Iraqi Interim
Government as they build a free, secure, democratic, unified, and
prosperous country, at peace with itself, its neighbors, and with the
wider world. Iraq needs and deserves the strong support of the
international community to realize its potential.
We applaud the unanimous approval of United Nations Security
Council Resolution 1546 on Iraq, endorsing the formation of the fully
sovereign Iraqi Interim Government and the political process that will
lead to a democratic Iraq, and recognize it as a new basis for the
international community to support the goals of the Iraqi people.
We welcome the establishment of the Iraqi Interim Government and
offer our full and sustained support for its assumption of full
sovereignty and for its mission to guide Iraq with the advice and
support of the United Nations toward elections no later than 31 January
2005.
We express our shared commitment, and urge others, including
international organizations, to support the economic and political
reconstruction of Iraq, focusing on priority projects identified by the
Iraqi Interim Government.
We support the continued and expansive engagement of the United
Nations in Iraq after the transfer of sovereignty, as circumstances
permit, with a leading role in the electoral process and the
reconstruction of Iraq.
Recognizing the vital need to combat terrorism and maintain
security and stability in Iraq, we support the mission of the
Multinational Force for Iraq, including protection of the United
Nations' presence, in accordance with the UNSCR 1546 and the invitation
of the Iraqi Interim Government. We stress the need for full respect
of the Geneva Conventions. We also support the training and equipping
of professional Iraqi security forces, capable of assuming increasing
responsibility for the country's security, as requested by Prime
Minister Allawi.
The U.S. will use its substantial assistance to support the Iraqi
people, including through critical essential services like electricity,
oil industry, water resources, and sanitation, health care,
transportation, and telecommunications. In addition, the U.S. will
focus on continuing economic and technical assistance and establishing
formal bilateral relations with Iraq.
The EU is providing assistance for the delivery of key public
services, employment and poverty reduction, and strengthening
governance, civil society, and human rights. The EU will launch
dialogue with the Iraqi Interim Government and society and stands ready
to prioritize support for the political process and elections, consider
further support for the rule of law and civil administration in Iraq,
use its relations with Iraq's neighbors to encourage positive
engagement and regional support for political and economic
reconstruction, play a positive role in discussions of Iraq's external
debt and on trade issues, and work to enhance its representation in
Iraq.
We welcome the success of the recent donors' conference in Doha of
the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq, and will work
together and with key governments and organizations before the next
conference in Tokyo later this year to identify ways in which the
international community can continue to effectively contribute to the
reconstruction of Iraq.
We pledge to provide support and assistance for the process
leading to national elections for the Transitional National
Assembly no later than January 31, 2005. To that end, the United
States and European Union will work together, with other donors, with
the Iraqi Interim Government, and in response to requests for
assistance from the United Nations, which plays a leading role in the
electoral process. This assistance will be fully coordinated with the
Iraqi Interim Government.
We will continue to support the provision of international
assistance on a bilateral basis and through the United Nations and
other international organizations, with a view to responding to the
needs of the Iraqi population.
We shall promote reduction of Iraq's external debt burden, as debt
reduction is critical if the Iraqi people are to have the opportunity
to build a free and prosperous nation. This reduction should be
provided in connection with an IMF program, and sufficient to ensure
sustainability taking into account the recent IMF analysis. We
encourage governments within the Paris Club, and non-Paris Club
creditors, to achieve that objective in 2004.
We will support Iraq's efforts to build a prosperous economy with
a thriving private sector and an efficient public sector,
attractive and open to investment, that reintegrates the country into
the regional and international community, and provides for economic
opportunities for all Iraqis.
To help reestablish the ties that link Iraq to the world, we will
explore ways of reaching out directly to the Iraqi people as they
emerge from decades of dictatorship to launch the political, social,
and economic reconstruction of their nation. We will work with the
Iraqi Interim Government and Iraqi civil society to strengthen
democracy and respect for human rights, the rule of law, transparency,
and good government.
We will encourage positive engagement and regional support from
Iraq's neighbors for the political and reconstruction process in Iraq.
If the Iraqi Interim Government decides that an international
conference would support Iraqi political transition and Iraqi recovery
to the benefit of the Iraqi people and the interest of stability in the
region, we would welcome such a meeting.
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