Divided EU trying to reach consensus on 'Palestine'
A divided European Union is attempting to reach a consensus on how to vote on the 'Palestinian' unilateral declaration of independence at the United Nations later this month. The Europeans believe that failing to reach such a consensus will result in their being less able to be a force in foreign affairs. But at a meeting in Poland this weekend, the EU showed itself to be deeply divided on the issue. As well as aggravating tensions in the Middle East, for the EU, a vote at the UN could be deeply embarrassing, if members of the 27-state bloc split into opposing camps, with some backing Palestinian efforts and others opposing them.I know - what if there were only one "Europe" member of the General Assembly instead of all these states? Nah, they'd never agree to that. But you must admit that when you see Luxembourg (population 'over half a million,' area 999 square miles (2,586 km)) having as much voice in the UN as the US or Russia (or for that matter Israel), something is really wrong.
Having its difficulties in forging a common view exposed would undermine the EU's efforts to become more influential in international affairs.
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But foreign ministers speaking in Sopot underscored deeply ingrained differences in Europe.
Luxembourg's Jean Asselborn said the EU needed to give support to the Palestinians and a bid for an upgrade of their status at the UN.
"I cannot agree to say no," he said.
Dutch minister Uri Rosenthal expressed the opposite view, shared by EU power-broker Germany, the United States and Israel, that the Palestinians should refrain from unilateral moves and push to resume peace negotiations instead.
"The Dutch position has been very clear ... we are totally against any unilateral steps whatever they might be and any step should be on the basis of any agreement of all the parties concerned," he said.
Labels: Catherine Ashton, European Union, Unilateral declaration of independence (UDI)
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:22 PM
1 Comments:
They'll never get a common position unless France and the UK foreign ministries (which will probably vote against) advocate strongly for Israel's position and convince the anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas countries like Norway, Spain and Luxembourg to reverse their positions. Having spent the last several years "going with the flow" and condemning every housing project in Jerusalem, I think it's a bit late for that.
Screw them. The EU deserves what it gets, and hopefully this will be the end of the EU common foreign policy project.
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