Asia, Europe oppose unilateralism

Asia, Europe oppose unilateralism

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali

The countries attending the Asia and Europe Meeting (ASEM)
reaffirmed on Thursday their commitment to the multilateral
approach to defusing international conflicts and the empowerment
of the United Nations (UN) in resolving disputes.

At the end of the one-day ministerial meeting here on
Thursday, the 25 member countries from the two continents
reaffirmed the importance of respecting international law,
including the UN Charter.

"On the new international situation, the ministers reaffirmed
their commitment to the multilateral approach in international
relations and to strictly abide by the principles of
international law, including the UN Charter," the chairman's
statement said.

"In this regard the ministers underlined the central and vital
role of the UN in the maintenance of peace and security, and the
strengthening of international cooperation."

The recognition of the multilateral approach and of the UN's
pivotal role by the ASEM countries came in response to the recent
trend of unilateralism around the globe.

The attack on Iraq by the United States and its allies, and
the establishment of a new Iraqi council without the involvement
of the UN has continued to draw criticism from some parts of the
world.

Many have expressed worries that unilateralism is threatening
the relevance of the UN, which was established in 1945 to prevent
future wars.

The international body and the global community has, however,
been unable to do much to prevent acts of unilateralism, or even
to keep the peace in conflict regions.

A consensus on mentioning multilateralism and the UN's role
among the ASEM member countries was reached after a long debate
during the senior officials' and ministerial meeting, which was
also attended by the United Kingdom and Japan, close allies of
the U.S.

Opened by Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri on
Thursday, the ministerial meeting concluded that the multilateral
approach should be the only way to deal with conflicts around the
world.

The grouping also underlined the importance of the UN role in
building a new Iraq after the U.S.-led attack toppled long-time
ruler Saddam Hussein earlier this year.

"On the Iraq post-war arrangement, the ministers reaffirmed
their support for the vital role of the United Nations in the
reconstruction and development of Iraq in accordance with the
aspirations of the people of Iraq," the ministers agreed.

The grouping also stressed the importance of quickly restoring
peace and security in Iraq for the sake of the Iraqi people.

To address the North Korean nuclear crisis, the ASEM member
countries agreed that the stand-off should be resolved through
dialog and should be followed by denuclearization on the part of
Pyongyang.

"The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and peaceful
resolution of the nuclear issue through dialog and negotiation
would contribute to peace and stability in the region and
beyond," the statement said.

To support its stance, ASEM also issued a separate document on
weapons of mass destruction, which underlined the importance of
disarmament in respect of all kinds of weapons of mass
destruction in the world.

The document also underlined that agreements on the non-
proliferation of nuclear weapons needed to be fully complied with
by all member states.

On the enlargement issue, the ministers decided to discuss
this at the ASEM summit next year in Hanoi, as the European
countries persisted with their stance of reserving the right to
exclude Myanmar due to the current situation in that country.

Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini, as the president of
the EU, proposed a separate meeting in October to further discuss
the enlargement of ASEM.