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| Agence France-Presse |
| President Jacques Chirac of France, left, and his foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, right, listening to Foreign Secretary Jack Straw of Britain on Monday at the European Union's summit meeting in Brussels. |
BRUSSELS, Feb. 17 — The leaders of the 15 members of the European Union warned Iraq today that it must disarm "immediately and fully," but said that Europe wanted to achieve this disarmament peacefully and that war should be a last resort.
The European statement was issued at the end of an emergency summit meeting and after a weekend of huge demonstrations in several cities against war in Iraq. It appeared to represent an effort to paper over trans-Atlantic differences through firm demands on Saddam Hussein while maintaining a distinct European position dedicated to a peaceful outcome.
"War is not inevitable," the statement said. "Force should only be used as a last resort. It is for the Iraqi regime to end this crisis by complying with the demands of the Security Council." [Text of the statement is linked at the right under "Related Articles."]
"The Union's objective for Iraq remains full and effective disarmament," it said, adding: "We want to achieve this peacefully. It is clear that this is what the people of Europe want."
The European leaders did not approve a timetable for Iraqi disarmament and rejected a British proposal that the statement include the phrase "time is running out."
That phrase was rejected by Germany, which, together with France, has stood at the forefront of European resistance to the Bush administration's plans to disarm Iraq through force if necessary.
In a demonstration of the continued distance between Europe and the United States, President Jacques Chirac of France said that there was "no need" for a second United Nations resolution reinforcing the threat of force against Iraq, and that France would oppose one if the United States and Britain proposed it to the Security Council.
"Iraq must have no illusions," the Greek president, Costas Simitis, said tonight, summarizing the European declaration.
He added that "Iraq alone will be responsible for the serious consequences" if it continued to defy United Nations resolutions.
The phrase "serious consequences" is widely viewed as meaning military force. It appears at the end of Security Council Resolution 1441, which last year provided arms inspectors with a strong mandate to return to Iraq and verify disarmament.
Differences between Europe and the United States over Iraq have become so acute in recent weeks that officials have expressed concern over the future of the NATO alliance. Today, European leaders seemed anxious to allay those fears, saying they were committed to "working with all our partners, especially the United States, for the disarmament of Iraq."
In its most forceful passage, the European statement said: "Baghdad should have no illusions. It must disarm and cooperate immediately and fully. Iraq has a final opportunity to resolve the crisis peacefully. The Iraqi regime alone will be responsible for the consequences if it continues to flout the will of the international community and does not take this last chance."
Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, who faces intense domestic opposition to his support for the Bush administration's war plans, insisted before the meeting that European leaders must show a united front with America as the best means of compelling Mr. Hussein to disarm.
The meeting today was intended in part to try to patch up the sharp disagreement among the Europeans that has left the goal of European unity in tatters. For months now, France and Germany have resisted American pressure to go to war with Iraq, while Britain, Italy, Spain and Denmark have expressed support for the American position.
That the meeting ended in a joint statement at all was something of a victory for many of the leaders who have been eager to heal the rifts caused by the Iraqi crisis and to speak in a single European voice.
Indeed, in the days leading up to the meeting today, many people in Europe, noting how deeply divided the union's member nations have been on Iraq, were doubtful that any agreement would be reached at all.
The next step in the complex diplomatic chess game being played concerning Iraq seems likely to come later this week, when the United States and Britain offer a resolution in the Security Council finding Iraq in "material breach" of Council resolutions, a formula for authorizing a military strike against the Hussein government.
But the European declaration that force should be only a "last resort" indicated that the two major European representatives on the Security Council, France and Germany, would actively resist the American and British move.
The statement seemed a careful balancing of the views that had badly divided the European Union.
On the one hand, it credited the American military buildup in the Persian Gulf with forcing Iraq to readmit the United Nations weapons inspection teams, which left the country in 1998. In what seemed a concession to the British desire for a timetable for Iraq disarmament, the statement also said, "Inspections cannot continue indefinitely in the absence of full Iraqi cooperation."
But the Europeans also called for the inspectors to have "the time and resources they need," reiterating what has become almost a mantra for the nations opposed to going to war, not only Germany and France but Russia and China, both of which have veto power on the Security Council. How much time that is was left unclear, but France has proposed that the chief weapons inspectors report back to the Council on March 14.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw of Britain said at a news conference after the joint declaration was released that the important question was not time for the inspectors but Iraqi compliance.
"If there is not active compliance, then no amount of time or more inspectors is going to change that reality of lack of compliance," he said.
Mr. Blair allowed that differences still existed among the European countries, but said, "There was a lot of common ground, and I have no doubt that many, many people around that table tonight were absolutely insistent that indeed, Saddam was in his final chance."
Not represented at the meeting today were 10 countries that are expected to become members of the European Union next year. Those countries, including most of the former satellites of the Soviet Union, all signed a statement of support for the United States position on Iraq two weeks ago.
