European Parliament
Jens Peter Bonde,
on behalf of the IND/DEM Group.
(DA)
Mr President, I too wish to welcome the ceasefire and the fact that weapons are being laid down and replaced with voting papers. I come from an area between Denmark and Germany where there have been war and conflict for donkey’s years and where, by granting reciprocal rights, respecting national minorities and having the border determined by referenda, a situation was achieved in which old enemies became friends. I have experienced this process in Northern Ireland. When we visited the province for the first time as Members of the European Parliament, we were thoroughly checked for weapons before we went into our hotel. On subsequent occasions, it was a peaceful Northern Ireland that we visited. The process is possible. I hope that peace will also finally be established in Spain and the Basque country.

