EU/US: Practical co-operation on issues of mutual concern was the way forward for relations between the European Union and the US and this would be a challenge for Ireland's European presidency next year, the EU's high representative on foreign policy, Dr Javier Solana, said in Dublin last night, writes Deaglan de Breadun, Foreign Affairs Correspondent.
"I am talking about tackling the problem of weapons of mass destruction, of reconstructing Iraq, of making progress on the road map for the Middle East, of ensuring effective co-operation between the EU and NATO in crisis-management. In working together on these issues, the EU and the US will be reminded of what has united us in the past, and why our co-operation is so necessary," Dr Solana told the Institute of European Affairs.
Warning it would be a mistake to "brush our differences under the carpet", he continued: "The differences are real. If we ignore them, we run the risk of deeper problems. Likewise, it would be a mistake to concentrate on what separates us at the expense of what connects us.
"I am talking about the ties of blood and history which have established strong networks across the Atlantic. I am also talking about the ties of trade and business which lie at the heart of all European economies, not least the Irish economy."
The challenge of terrorism had to be addressed: "Terrorism threatens all of our citizens and all of our societies. This is well understood in Ireland, where many families were touched directly or indirectly by the attack on the World Trade Centre. In the past week alone, terrorist attacks have killed over 100 people, including citizens of France, Spain and Italy."