Lively debate in the European Parliament today regarding the willingness of two new member states (Poland and the Czech Republic) to allow the installment of an US missile shield on their territory. When it comes to Antiamericanism, the "EU solidarity" is strongly in place. The EU parliamentarians have suddenly found common ground for a joint EU foreign policy: the missile shield upsets Russia, so there should be an "open debate" about it in all the member countries. Even though defense is still a national, non EU-matter, there could have been no better pretext to call for "sovereignty limitations" in defense than bullying against 2 new member states for being too pro-American for the average EU taste. Suddenly, even the low-key speaker and EU foreign policy representative Javier Solana has found a cause worth fighting for: not to "affect" EU-Russia relations.
"The EU is not a defence alliance, we all know this, but it does have an external security policy and it can and should debate this subject," Mr Solana said in a prelude to a potential formal debate among EU heads of state or foreign ministers in future. "I think that's what most political leaders in the EU want," he added, noting the US plan could "affect" EU-Russia relations. "We're not calling for people to take a decision on the subject, but it would be a mistake not to talk about it," he added, tiptoeing through Title V of the EU treaty on the limits of EU competency on security issues. "On security matters, the Treaty allocates sovereignty to member states. But that sovereignty has to be compatible with our general interests in security."
Surely, there is nothing wrong about debate. It's part of democracy. But it would be very naive not to see that EU's concern is totally in line with the Kremlin discourse. Putin has been very vocal about this missile defense shield, even invoking a "second Cold War". But this is also a charade. Putin knows very well that the missile shield is not aimed against Russia. It's about Iran. The defense shield would protect Europe from any attacks from the Middle East. And Iran being the "roguest" state at this point with very clear military and nuclear ambitions, the missile defense shield is probably one of the issues Tehran has put forward on the negotiation table with Kremlin. Here is what the Russian Foreign Ministry said today (what a coincidence!) in a letter co-signed by Putin:
"The international community should not risk escalating the situation around Iran and should wait for the U.S. to make a good-faith effort to normalize relations with Tehran," the Foreign Ministry said in a foreign policy review signed by the president. The Russian ministry said the Iran crisis could have devastating consequences for relations between "civilizations," and then the U.S. would have to prove it is not preparing for a "clash of civilizations" by building up "Fortress America," separated from the rest of the world by two oceans and strict border controls. Unlike the U.S., Russia, which is building a nuclear power plant in southern Iran, has opposed any tough sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Russian authorities have also been seriously alarmed by U.S. plans to deploy a missile shield in Central Europe to prevent possible strikes from Iran or North Korea. In his outspoken address to the Munich security conference in February, President Putin said the U.S. missile defense plans could trigger a new arms race, and accused the U.S. of ignoring international law and imposing its own rules on other countries."We are seeing an increasing disregard for the fundamental principles of international law," Putin said, adding that Russia would amend its military strategy in response.
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Mar 29th, 2007
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