Dec 7, 2011

A joint pledge on Afghanistan

The world is steadfastly standing by the people of Afghanistan – as Foreign Minister Westerwelle stated, that was the central message of the Afghanistan Conference which took place in Bonn on 5 December. The Minister went on to say that the day had seen the country’s partnership with the international community underpinned anew – with “clear and long-term prospects”, thanks to the delegates agreeing on credible mutual commitments. This “joint pledge”, as he called it, is set out in the Conference Conclusions. Afghanistan, for its part, declares its commitment to increasing its efforts in pursuit of good governance, democracy and the fight against corruption. The international community meanwhile stands ready to continue providing support after international combat troops have been withdrawn in 2014.

2014 is to mark the start of a transformation decade during which the international community commits itself to assisting Afghanistan in, for example, its political process of national reconciliation. Westerwelle underlined the necessity of clear principles here, pointing to those explicitly spelled out in paragraph 18 of the Conference Conclusions: the renunciation of violence, the breaking of ties to international terrorism, and respect for human rights. This reconciliation process, the Minister added, needed the active support of Afghanistan’s neighbours. At the conference, this was forthcoming from all the neighbouring states in attendance.

In sending out the central message of the Conference, Westerwelle said, all the participants were in agreement: “There will be no military solution for Afghanistan.” What the country needs – alongside support for the Afghan security forces – is a political process which involves negotiation and reconciliation.

“Our military commitments have passed their high point, and in a few weeks, Germany, like others, will be reducing troops numbers for the first time,” Westerwelle affirmed. This, he said, makes it necessary to further intensify the search for a political solution. As the Minister pointed out, the Conference in Bonn was not a meeting of troop providers or donors but a “political conference involving mutual commitments and pledges”.

Westerwelle called this a viable basis for the Conference, which had enabled it to reach a remarkably successful conclusion. In his summary of the conference’s results, President Karzai described it as a “golden day for the support and commitment afforded to Afghanistan”.

Opening the Afghanistan Conference in Bonn on 5 December, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle declared that “The goal of this Conference will be to lay the groundwork for a free, secure and prosperous Afghanistan.” He said that, although there had been setbacks in recent years, a lot had been achieved. Westerwelle recalled the terrible attacks in New York and Washington which had marked the beginning of international engagement in Afghanistan ten years ago, and had been followed by attacks in Casablanca, Madrid and London. He pointed out that, since then, men and women from more than 50 countries had fought alongside Afghan forces, many of them losing their lives. “A stable and peaceful Afghanistan which does not pose a threat to the world is in all our interests,” the Foreign Minister said. While admitting that not all the goals and expectation of the last few years had been realistic, he pointed to the many things that had nonetheless been achieved: “Most Afghans now enjoy more freedom, peace and security than at any time in the past thirty years.”

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai also highlighted the progress his country had made in recent years. The past decade, he said, had brought unprecedented improvements in opportunities, growth and living standards for the people in Afghanistan. Casting his mind back to the previous Afghanistan Conference held in Bonn, exactly ten years ago, the President recalled the new chapter it had opened in Afghanistan’s relations with the international community. The present Conference, he said, was again “making history”, as a sovereign and democratic Afghanistan came together with the international community to deepen and extend that partnership in the interests of security and cooperation.

President Karzai thanked Germany for its continued commitment and its hospitality; while Afghanistan chaired the Conference, Germany was the host. Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary-General, called Afghanistan’s chairmanship an extremely significant signal of the Afghan people’s readiness to shape their own future. He simultaneously emphasized the regional dimension, pointing out that political reconciliation in Afghanistan would only be possible with the support of the country’s neighbours. Foreign Minister Westerwelle saw three points as particularly important for the coming stages of the process:

Firstly, he considered it vital that the transition process would prepare the ground for the withdrawal of international combat troops and consolidate the authority of Afghanistan’s Government. He pointed out that the onus was on the Government to strengthen public administration, reinforce the rule of law and fight corruption. Secondly, he said that political support for Afghan reconciliation – the only way to establish durable peace – had to be kept up. Westerwelle’s third point was that the international community’s long-term engagement in Afghanistan needed to be clearly defined. He explained this meant continued civilian reconstruction, support for the Afghan national security forces for as long as necessary, and help for the country in unlocking its enormous economic potential.

Westerwelle cautioned that the road ahead would remain stony and difficult. The international engagement would change, he said, to focus on reconstruction and development, while the Afghan Government would continue to enhance its capacities and further reconciliation. He described these mutual commitments on the part of Afghanistan and the international community as the foundations of their new partnership.

Federal Chancellor Merkel also made explicit that Afghanistan could rely on the continued support of the international community after 2014. After responsibility for security had been handed over, she said, the political process would in future be extremely important, especially in such issues as reconciliation and the distribution of power across all social and ethnic groups. “We can help, but only the Afghan people can solve these problems,” Merkel emphasized. She asked President Karzai to do everything in his power to advance the political process, combat corruption and the drugs trade, and improve standards of living for the population.

[German Federal Foreign Office  Release at http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Aussenpolitik/RegionaleSchwerpunkte/AfghanistanZentralasien/Bonn_Konferenz_2011/111205-Schlussartikel-Uebersichtsseite-node.html]