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'New Europe' backs EU on Iraq national |
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news report
 Wednesday February 19, 2003 21:12 by watcher
 Doves and hawks: Chirac attacks pro-US nations Thirteen EU candidate countries endorsed on Tuesday a declaration by existing members warning Iraq that it had one last chance to disarm. But a number of Eastern and Central European states hit back furiously at French President Jacques Chirac who condemned them on Monday for their pro-US stance. A Czech minister said France appeared to be bullying the candidate countries, while Romanian President Ion Iliescu said the French president's remarks were "inappropriate". Jacques Chirac should regret such expressions, which are not in the spirit of friendship and democratic relationships Romanian President Ion Iliescu UK Prime Minister Tony Blair backed the small nations, declaring that all countries should be free to speak their minds. Chirac warning He also made clear that he disagreed with the decision by the EU's Greek presidency to exclude the future members from Monday's emergency summit. This approach will not help to create unity in the Security Council Lubomir Ivanov "It is not well-brought-up behaviour. They missed a good opportunity to keep quiet," he said. He warned the candidates that their position could be "dangerous" because the EU's decision to accept 10 new members in 2004 still had to be ratified by existing members. He said Romania and Bulgaria - currently due to join the EU in 2007 - could not have chosen a better way to spoil their chances of joining the club. 'Old' and 'New' Europe At Monday's summit, EU leaders bridged some of the gaps dividing them on policy towards Iraq. LATEST LETTER SUPPORTING US It also said war was not inevitable, and that UN weapons inspectors should be given more time. The compromise was a synthesis of the more hawkish position taken by the UK, Spain and Italy, and the dovish position taken by France and Germany. Most of the candidate countries have sided with the hawks, prompting US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to compare the "New" Europe favourably with what he called the "Old" Europe. Among the politicians who lined up to criticise Mr Chirac, Bulgarian Deputy Foreign Minister Lubomir Ivanov said his remarks would not help to create unity in the Security Council. 'Condescending' The chairman of the Hungarian parliament's EU Integration committee, Istvan Szent-Ivanyi, said: "No-one can oblige us to be silent." JANUARY'S OPEN LETTER OF SUPPORT FOR US Estonian foreign ministry spokeswoman Tiina Maiberg told BBC News Online: "All we would say is that the more plurality of opinion in Europe, the better it is. Our country and other countries have a right to express our opinions." There was also criticism from leading European parliamentarians. Hans-Georg Poettering, who leads the largest grouping in the parliament, the centre-right European People's Party said it was dangerous to pit east against west, and EU against US. "Were we to define our relationship in such a way that European integration is seen as something running counter to our relations with the United States, then we would be jeopardising the future of the European Union," he said. Liberal Democrat leader Graham Watson called Mr Chirac's attack "gratuitous and condescending".
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Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4Published on Thursday, February 20, 2003 by Agence France Presse
US Lobbyist Helped Draft Eastern Europeans' Iraq Statement
http://commondreams.org/headlines03/0220-05.htm
A former Pentagon official helped draft a controversial statement by 10 Central and Eastern European nations this month that supports the United States in its stand-off with Iraq, according to a press report published in Paris.
In an interview, Bruce Jackson, a former US Defense Department official who heads a Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, said that he was among those who helped initiate the statement supporting the US stance, the daily International Herald Tribune reported.
The joint statement by Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia drew a scathing rebuke from France's President Jacques Chirac at a European Union summit meeting in Brussels Monday.
According to the report, it was the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, Jackson's organization, that helped distribute the text to news agencies.
"The American influence in all this is vastly exaggerated," said Jackson, who, according to the paper, has played down his role in drafting the statement during a dinner organized at the Slovak embassy in Washington which he said he attended.
The statement "was a product of the Slovaks and really the Latvians", he said.
But, according to the IHT, Kestutis Jankauskas, deputy chief of mission at the Lithunian embassy in Washington, said Jackson played a "considerable role" and helped "initiate the text."
Richard Mucins, counselor at the Latvian embassy in Washington, said, according to the paper, that Jackson suggested the following passage, one of the most compelling sections in the statement: "Our countries understand the dangers posed by tyranny and the special responsibility of democracies to defend our shared values".
The statement which was published by what is known as the Vilnius 10 on February 5 is considered as a way to help seven out of the 10 countries, which are not yet members of NATO, to join the Atlantic alliance, says the paper.
© 2003 AFP
"Bruce Jackson, a former US Defense Department official who heads a Committee for the Liberation of Iraq..."
Orwellian or what?
France should block Turkey and The Eastern European ountries from ever entering the EU. Let them Join the USA as they like being US puppets so much.
Turkey should never be allowed to join the EU or any other international body on human rights grounds. However it is no secret that they will be allowedto join the ERU anyway, so much for human rights!