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President of the European Commission Romano Prodi said in Brussels Wednesday that the member states' different ways of dealing with the Iraqi crisis has put the bloc at a crossroad of its common foreign policy.
He made the remarks while addressing the plenary session of the European Parliament.
The crisis has already split the Europe Union and the way it handles the current Iraqi crisis may affect the future of the 15-member union, Prodi said.
EU treaties require member states to support the EU's external and security policy actively and unreservedly in a spirit of loyalty and mutual solidarity. "How little the letter and the spirit of these treaty provisions have been observed recently is plain to all," he said at a subsequent press conference.
He urged all EU member states to work together to enhance and develop their mutual political solidarity and to refrain from any action contrary to the interests of the EU or likely to impair its effectiveness as a cohesive force in international relations.
"Today we are at another crossroad. Europe's future may hang on the way we face the crisis," he said.
Earlier in the day, an EU report also called for stronger common foreign policy and stressed its role as the second pillar of the EU since 1993.
(Xinhua News Agency March 27, 2003)
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