Summary: 7 August 2008, Brussels - The President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, condemns the coup d'état in Mauritania. He made the following declaration:
"The European Parliament is dismayed at the arrest of President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi and Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed Waghf. This violent overthrow of the ruling regime is unacceptable and completely disregards the sovereign electoral choice made by the people of Mauritania in favour of a democratically legitimated government.
As observers in 2006 and 2007, the European Union and the European Parliament were guarantors of the lawfulness of that election. On behalf of the European Parliament, therefore, I condemn the recent events in Mauritania in the strongest possible terms. I call on the perpetrators of the coup d'état to restore constitutional order immediately and unconditionally and to guarantee respect for basic rights.
Responsibility for the political, economic and social future of Mauritania rests solely with the freely elected representatives of the people. The European Parliament will monitor developments in Mauretania very closely."
Mauritania is a member of the Barcelona Process: Mediterranean Union. M. Pöttering, is also the current President of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly.
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