EUROPE: Either Europe will shelve its differences and speak with a single voice on the Iraq crisis, or there will be no European voice on the issue, European Commission President, Mr Romano Prodi, warned yesterday.
"Generally speaking, the Commission has no competence in matters of foreign policy, but if you ask me the question as Romano Prodi, I will tell you that either we will speak with a single voice, or there will be no voice for Europe," Mr Prodi told the Barcelona daily La Vanguardia.
The Commission President's remarks addressed a continuing debate about whether and how to build a common European Union foreign policy, with individual nations joining together to form a dominant diplomatic force.
An initiative launched by current EU president Greece to build a common stance on the Iraq crisis has been hobbled by overt division between two camps, one calling for caution and the other throwing its support behind the more hawkish position of the US.
Mr Prodi told the Spanish daily that the EU - with or without a common stance - was still bound to "operate" within the framework of UN decisions.
On Thursday, an open letter signed by the leaders of eight European countries and spearheaded by Britain and Spain came out strongly in favour of Washington's stance on Iraq.
Yesterday Spain's Prime Minister, Mr José María Aznar, under attack for his government's stance on the affair, insisted that all governments, including Spain, "have the information that the regime of Saddam Hussein, with its biological and chemical weaponry and links to terrorist groups, poses a threat to the peace and security of the world and of Spain".
He confirmed that Spain supports the idea of a second UN resolution on Iraq before any military action commences.
With public opinion firmly opposed to war in Iraq, Mr Aznar has been criticised in Spain for signing the letter. The latest opinion poll, published in daily El Pais, showed that 64.7 per cent of Spanish voters wanted Spain to support the Franco-German line on Iraq, while just 9.9 per cent favoured alignment with Washington's position.