Prime Minister Tony Blair met the Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Maria Aznar, for talks in Downing Street last night. Mr Blair said that both the UK and Spain are absolutely determined to finish the task in Iraq.
Mr Blair told journalists that it was an immensely constructive meeting, and added how much the UK has valued Spain’s support over the past year.
"It has been of immense importance to my country to know that we have had such a strong and reliable ally, and we are both absolutely determined that what we have begun in Iraq we should finish and that it should lead to an Iraq that is stable and prosperous and democratic for the future.
"And both our two countries, I know, will continue working to that end."
Read a transcript of the doorstep interview
Prime Minister
Good Evening everyone. First of all can I say how delighted I am to see Prime Minister Aznar here in Downing Street and to say, as ever, we have had an immensely constructive and cordial meeting between the two of us. We began by discussing issues to do with international terrorism, where we have had a reminder very recently in Istanbul of the threat this causes to all our countries. Secondly, obviously we discussed in some detail the situation in Iraq where Spain and Great Britain continue to work closely together with America and with our other allies, European and non-European. And thirdly, obviously we discussed the up-coming Intergovernmental Conference, where it is our hope obviously that we reach an agreement that is satisfactory to both our countries.
As I say, it was an immensely constructive meeting and I would just like to say how much we have valued the support and solidarity of Spain over this past year. It has been of immense importance to my country to know that we have had such a strong and reliable ally, and we are both absolutely determined that what we have begun in Iraq we should finish and that it should lead to an Iraq that is stable and prosperous and democratic for the future. And both our two countries, I know, will continue working to that end.
So Jose, once again, welcome here. It is a pleasure to see you.
Prime Minister Aznar
Good Evening to you and thank you very much to Prime Minister Blair for his welcome and for this opportunity to once again hold such a cordial, pleasant and interesting conversation. I can ratify what the Prime Minister has just said. We have a mutual commitment in our anti-terrorist struggle, which is comprehensive, we do it both bilaterally and also in our action within the European Union and every other organisation in which we both participate, such as the UN, and we are prepared to continue working together knowing that we are facing the greatest of all threats - terrorism - and we unfortunately recently have been able to see this threat in Istanbul with British casualties, for which we are very sorry. But our commitment is complete. We share the same vision on Iraq and I therefore reiterate what the Prime Minister has just said. We have always been together, we are still together and we will end our mission in Iraq well together. For Iraq and for the world’s peace and stability, I am certain that the Iraqis will have a peaceful democracy, a solid democracy and freedom and respect for human beings will be their cornerstone of the future, and that is what we are working for, to spread this democracy that is the greatest demand possible of countries.
Afterwards we have spoken about the Intergovernmental Conference and we understand our mutual positions very well. We would like to reach an agreement in the conference, but we would like this agreement to be one that everyone can live with, out of which comes a strengthened Europe in terms of security, economy and so on.
We also share a vision based on the basic security elements of Europe, based on the Atlantic Alliance, and we also share the need to preserve a strong Atlantic link. Our bilateral relations are positive - you all know this - and our talks have been very fruitful and useful, and I would like once again to thank Tony Blair for his hospitality, his welcome and his availability.
Question and Answer Session
Question
Good Afternoon. My question is for both. This morning Prime Minister Aznar said that perhaps mistakes had been made in the post-war Iraq. What are these mistakes, what are we doing well or badly? Do you all share the same view? And do you think that the aftermath can be managed differently, based on the analysis of the mistakes?
Prime Minister Aznar
Firstly, neither of us has thought that the stabilisation policy in Iraq was going to be easy or short. We knew that it was a difficult situation and that it would take a long time to gel. Certainly our commitment for these decisions adopted to defend international legality, and therefore what that principle of democracy means in Iraq is something that we will be able to carry ahead. Obviously when processes of this magnitude have to be confronted, at times one will be right, as others; one will be wrong. But we want there to be greater and greater responsibilities by the Iraqis, we want to return sovereignty to the Iraqi people. The calendar is there, we share it, and our responsibilities and our commitments we will continue to honour. We know that an important part of international counter-terrorism goes through Iraq and we are working for a safer world, for a stable world, and I am sure that Tony Blair shares this view, that in spite of all the terrorist attacks, in spite of all the pain caused by terrorists, in spite of all their destabilising attempts, there are people that still do not realise the risk, the important risks that our democracies have ahead of them, and we are ready and resolved to defeat terror.
Prime Minister
I agree with that totally. Look, there are many issues that we thought could be fundamental and serious problems, that haven’t arisen, issues to do with whether the population would get access to food in Iraq, issues to do for example with oil production, issues to do with some of the problems of infrastructure. Many of these problems we have resolved far better than people anticipated. There is one specific problem we now have - which is security - and it is very important there that everyone understands what is happening in Iraq, because what is happening is clear and simple. What is happening is that we are trying to make the country better by developing its services, by giving its people democracy, by renewing its industry and its commerce; and the terrorists and former Saddam supporters are trying to stop us. And that is why it is important that we carry on. There is no doubt at all, were it not for the terrorist attacks in Iraq, the whole process would be moving forward at a rapid pace. The only thing that is slowing us down are the terrorists who are killing Iraqi civilians, Iraqi people, as well as bombing the UN, bombing the Red Cross. So I think that, as the Prime Minister has just said, it was never going to be easy, but I think it is now very, very clear what the problem is and we have to address it, but it is not, as it were, the British, the Americans, the Spanish, the other allies versus the Iraqi people, it is all of us, and the Iraqi people, versus the Saddam people and the terrorists, and that is why we have got to win.
Question
Can I ask you both to comment on President Chirac’s statement earlier at his summit news conference where he expressed concern about the slowness of handing over power to the Iraqi people, and the lack of a prominent role for the UN.
Prime Minister
The UN obviously is involved. I entirely understand that people want the transition to happen as quickly as possible, but it has got to happen consistent with what is indeed possible. And the Governing Council has now laid out a timetable, a process of transition, which will mean by mid-next year we have got real genuine representative democracy taking shape in Iraq. There is no interest that anyone has, other than transferring power to the Iraqi people as swiftly as possible and creating a viable democracy there, and the only constraint on us is the constraint of what is possible. So of course we all want to see this process happen swiftly, but it has to happen also safely and securely.
Prime Minister Aznar
I fully agree. We have to do things as quickly as possible, but above all we have to do them well. Nobody would want us to reach a false end in Iraq. It is important that the Iraq programme is a success, and there are elements, terrorist elements, that are prepared to avoid this. And we are ready to do what we were ready for at the beginning - we want a sovereign Iraq as soon as possible, that it has full control over its decisions, that it has a normalised presence in the international community and a full decision over its resources and its government and a stability of security in the area. There have been problems, we are aware of them from a security standpoint, and we naturally would like to finish our job well, and we will fulfil our calendar, that is the best way of having an Iraqi democracy as soon as possible.
Question
Mr Blair said this afternoon, together with Mr Chirac, that France and the United Kingdom are on the same side on the key elements of the Intergovernmental Conference. Does that mean that the UK is on France’s side of the debate about Spain and the voting issue?
Prime Minister
What it means is that we have got to try and find an agreement in the Intergovernmental Conference. We have set out in the White Paper that we published some weeks ago the British position on this, and we set out why we can support the Nice position. Now I hope very much that we can find a way through, but it has got to be a way through that protects the interests of Spain and protects the interests in a different set of issues of Great Britain, and that is what the negotiation is going to be about. And I hope the negotiation can be successful, because in the end it is important that we then get back to the business, which I am sure is the business most European citizens really care about, which is issues to do with the economy and economic reform, jobs, job creation, fighting issues to do with organised crime and terrorism. We had a very constructive discussion today on the Intergovernmental Conference and I think both Spain and Great Britain understand each other’s preoccupations.
Question
Just quickly for Prime Minister Aznar. Can I ask you who you were referring to when you say that there are people out there who aren’t facing up to this threat of terrorism? And then just quickly for both Prime Ministers, in Colombia in the last hour it seems that they have released two back-packers - one of them Spanish I think, another British - if you could just react to that, and how would you suggest dealing with the remaining hostages there?
Prime Minister Aznar
What I mean is that I would like everyone to realise, as I think we two do, that the world changed substantially after the 9/11 attacks, and what was a threat that some could consider in hypothetical terms in the past terrorism is no longer a threat, it is reality, and that is one of the most important, if not the most important problem, of democracies today, the British democracy, the Spanish democracy and democracies all over the world. Some people could have thought that this was something that affected other countries, there were people who thought that this only affected others. It is not the case, it is a global case, terrorism is a global threat and terrorism therefore requires a global response. In that regard, Spain establishes its position and its commitment unreservedly in all its capacity in the counter-terrorist struggle. But some people may still harbour doubts, but the recent attacks in Istanbul, I trust, may have dispelled these doubts regarding the terrorist threat, although I am not at all an optimist. I do think that there can be more terrorist attacks and that we have to all be more effective in our response. But with this, what I mean is that I am convinced that Spain and the United Kingdom are fulfilling their responsibilities in counter-terrorism very well and that we are ready to continue doing so.
Regarding the people freed in Colombia, I am of course very pleased that they have been freed and I hope that everyone else is released. I think it is intolerable that there may be groups that kidnap people, tourists, to achieve advantages in their positions, and I am aware of the efforts made by the Colombian government and its President to overcome that situation. President Uribe has our support and understanding.
Prime Minister
I take the same view of terrorism. I totally agree with what Prime Minister Aznar has just said, and in respect of the release of the hostages in Colombia, I thank the Colombian government for their efforts. As Prime Minister Aznar has just indicated, of course we welcome the release of the hostages and we want all hostages to be released, and we will carry on working to that end.
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