- Mr President, like many other people here, I should like to applaud the governmental and non-governmental organizations for the way they have been handling the situation in Rwanda. I should like to focus on the speed and the nature of the response from Europe and the wider international community.

As we all know, hundreds of thousands of people have been slaughtered. Many of us saw this on our TV screens and were spectators to the atrocities taking place. I ask the question, could it have been avoided? My focus is on what we can learn from this. In the Gulf War where we had a similar situation where large populations were threatened by tyranny and genocide, the international community came together and took prompt action to prevent what would have been massacres by the forces of Saddam Hussein.

In Bosnia what we saw was a sclerosis of action by the international community, mainly, I believe, because of the paucity of economic interests which exist in Bosnia for many of us in the west. Somalia and Rwanda should now teach us that the international community - in particular the United Nations - tends to react far too slowly where there is no direct economic interest. Therefore, I believe that we in the European Union, should have more self-confidence and be prepared to act as and when we see fit.

Bosnia, Somalia and Rwanda are three recent cases. We have heard mention of Cambodia, Sabra and Chatila and whether or not retrospective action should have been taken against war criminals there. I believe there is always a case for that, whether such a court is sitting permanently or not.

Many people have already raised the question of where next - Burundi, Zaire or Algeria? I do not believe there are many amongst us who would question whether or not this is our responsibility and whether or not we have anything to do with it. I would ask people to read their history books and look not only at recent history - people are mostly talking about contemporary history with tribal factions and events that have occurred since the Second World War - but at the history of colonialism and there you will find many of the answers to the problems arising in this day and age, sometimes a short time, sometimes a long time afterwards.

I applaud the setting up of a humanitarian observatory. This can be an excellent watchdog to monitor both natural and man-made disasters as and when they seem likely to unfold. I also applaud the setting up of a humanitarian intervention force. Of course, this intervention force needs resources and finance but it also needs the necessary military options. Whether or not those military options eventually come through the United Nations, NATO or forces of the Western European Union they are necessary because diplomacy, food and medicine alone will not stop massacres and genocide. They may stop some but they will not necessarily stop all of them. In some cases only the threat of direct military action can do. This is some way down the road and it will take some time for the European Community and the international community to come to terms with this but until they do, we may see another Rwanda and other disasters around the world. If the UN will not act, we should. We do not just need good samaritans, we need

policemen as well. Therefore the role of the UN has to be seriously reviewed as a result of this. Otherwise, we will be as helpless to stop massacres in the future, as we have been in the past. The watchdog needs teeth. Let us give it some.