French Foreign Minister Kouchner criticizes Ashton: EU should participate at Mideast talks. But the EU foreign policy chief has decided not to skip her “strategic” China trip. AFP has the story:
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Saturday she could not attend next month’s Middle East peace talks because of a China trip, and she had no place there anyway.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Friday the EU should be at the table when the Israeli and Palestinian leaders resume direct peace talks in Washington on Thursday. “It would be a shame if there was no European representation,” Kouchner said, suggesting it should be Ashton. (…) The US-mediated talks, the first since Israel launched a devastating offensive against the Gaza Strip in December 2008, will also be attended by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan’s King Abdullah II.
In a reply to Kouchner, Ashton said she understood his position but she would be in China, as the French foreign minister was aware, her spokesman said. This was a key trip ahead of an EU summit in September focusing on strategic partnerships with China, the spokesman said, and Ashton would be meeting top Chinese officials.
While she had been invited to an informal dinner ahead of the talks, it clashed with the China trip, and in any case her appearance there “would have no substantial influence on the talks,” which were “strictly between the two parties.”
“Both sides already know the importance of the EU in this process and acknowledge … Ashton’s personal involvement and time invested in getting to this point,” a statement said. “All those involved in this process know they can call on her anytime.” For Ashton and the EU as a whole, “the focus is on a successful outcome of the talks, particularly the first round and the focus should not be on the choreography or who goes to Washington or not.” “Also it must be made clear we are only at the start of the process, many more talks will have to take place before we can reach, as hoped, a solution,” she added. The EU will “still have plenty more opportunities to contribute to the process and will be called upon to help support the talks.” (…)
Ashton said former British prime minister Tony Blair would represent the Quartet in Washington, but neither UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon nor Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would be there, “as they respect that this is the best way forward and the spotlight should be firmly focused on the talks themselves.”
She said she “looks forward to a successful first round of talks” and would be debriefed personally by US Middle East envoy Senator George Mitchell and Blair immediately afterwards. “She will then inform EU member states of the outcome and next steps.”
Bernard Kouchner had also urged Ashton on Friday to support a French initiative in the case of the Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning. On the same day, Ashton responded in a letter to Kouchner. AFP reports:
The European Union’s foreign policy chief said Friday the EU was about to reject “practices of another age”, after a woman was sentenced to death by stoning in Iran.
France urged the European Union earlier Friday to threaten Iran with new sanctions over the case of 43-year-old Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, despite Tehran’s warning to the West not to interfere. Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner wrote to foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to call for all 27 member states to warn Tehran not to execute her, in a letter seen by AFP.
“Your concerns over the human rights situation in Iran exactly reflect mine,” Ashton said in a letter to Kouchner, of which AFP obtained a copy. “As for the case of Mrs Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who was sentenced to stoning, I think, as you do, that the moment has come for the European Union to collectively express its rejection of practices of another age,” she said.
Ashton said the EU was undertaking “discreet” steps in Tehran. “If they do not yield convincing results, I would only see advantages in EU members sending a collective letter to the Iranian authorities quickly.”
More on the dispute between Paris and Brussels over Iran in another AFP report.
Ashton on EU-China relations. Ahead of her China trip this week (29 August – 3 September), the EU foreign policy chief has given an interview to the China Daily: here.
Westerwelle urges EU Member States to back Kosovo independence. AFP reports:
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Friday urged the European Union to present a united front in backing Kosovo as a state independent from Serbia. After talks with political leaders in Pristina, Westerwelle told reporters that concerns that Kosovo could serve as an international precedent for other peoples seeking autonomy were unfounded. “The recognition of Kosovo is a case sui generis (unique) and this is a clear message, also to the European Union,” he said on the third and final day of a tour of the former Yugoslavia.
He noted that 22 of the 27 EU member states had recognised Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia, a “reality” confirmed last month by the International Court of Justice in a non-binding opinion. “Five others are hesitating,” Westerwelle said. “And we ask them after the clear decision of the international court to follow the majority in the European Union. It is a clear majority.” Spain, Slovakia, Romania, Greece and Cyprus have not recognised Kosovo, with Spain in particular fearing that it could serve as an example to incite its own separatist movements.
Meanwhile Serbian President Tadic has again rejected Kosovo independence. AFP reports:
“Serbia will never recognise Kosovo. That is a red line that we will not cross,” Tadic said. “I told that to Westerwelle, (US Secretary of State Hilary) Clinton, (French President Nicolas) Sarkozy, (German Chancellor Angela) Merkel and I tell that to all” others, Tadic said.
European Union “dying”, says Charles Kupchan (Council on Foreign Relations) in the Washington Post:
The European Union is dying — not a dramatic or sudden death, but one so slow and steady that we may look across the Atlantic one day soon and realize that the project of European integration that we’ve taken for granted over the past half-century is no more. (…) From London to Berlin to Warsaw, Europe is experiencing a renationalization of political life, with countries clawing back the sovereignty they once willingly sacrificed in pursuit of a collective ideal. For many Europeans, that greater good no longer seems to matter. They wonder what the union is delivering for them, and they ask whether it is worth the trouble. If these trends continue, they could compromise one of the most significant and unlikely accomplishments of the 20th century: an integrated Europe, at peace with itself, seeking to project power as a cohesive whole. The result would be individual nations consigned to geopolitical irrelevance — and a United States bereft of a partner willing or able to shoulder global burdens.
Reforming the EU’s Eastern policy: At Internationale Politik, Constanze Stelzenmüller (GMF Berlin) proposes five criteria for an “effective Eastern Policy” for the EU: “it must be balanced, coordinated, vigorous, courageous—and patient.” Read the piece here.
To sign up for the Global Europe Morning Brief, send an email to globeurope@gmail.com