Thursday, April 07, 2011

Pakistan: Euro MEPs - The Danger of Taliban Presence in Pakistan

Source: Office of MEP Krzysztof Lisek

The Members of the European Parliament Johannes van Baaeln, Tanja Fajon, Carl Haglund, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff and Krzysztof Lisek (photo) tabled a Written Declaration in the European Parliament "on the danger of Taliban presence in Pakistan". In this declaration these members show their concern over the "Taliban infiltration into Pakistani governmental structures, particularly the military, intelligence and security establishments" and are requesting consequences.

The Polish Vice-Chairperson of the Security and Defence Committee Krzysztof Lisek calls "on the [European] Commission to re-evaluate the size and objectives of its financial aid package to Pakistan, depending on the sincere efforts of the Pakistani Government to eradicate terrorist groups operating on and from Pakistani soil".

The Liberal Dutch Member of the Security and Defence- and of the Foreign Affairs Committee Hans van Baalen calls "upon the Vice-President and High Representative [Catherine Ashton] to present, as a priority, an updated Security Strategy for the European Union."

The Social Democratic Slovenian Member of the Committee on Civil Liberties Tanja Fajon agrees with Mr. van Baalen and in conjunction calls "upon Catherine Ashton to appoint senior security experts to undertake a thorough study of the security situation in the region."

The Finish Liberal Carl Haglund additionally calls on Ms. Ashton to "make sure that all EU operations and missions in the region are undertaken by personnel trained and equipped for the possibility of CBRN terrorism (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear terrorism)."

Krzysztof Lisek stressed the importance of this declaration and promises to continue his political fight against terrorist activities in Pakistan: "Next I plan to host an event at the European Parliament about the dangers stemming from the Baluchistan region for our European soldiers in Afghanistan".

The final Declaration (WD 013/2011) can be found at http://tinyurl.com/6j32gpr