PRESS MULLS OVER EUROPE’S TURKEY DEAL
EurActiv.com, Belgium
Oct 5 2005
In Short:
A “victory”, “half yes” and “bad job” are words that stick out in
editorials in the press across the continent after the EU’s decision
on 3 October to start accession talks with Turkey.
Background:
Following four decades of preparations and a few days of heated
disputes, the EU formally opened accession talks with Turkey on
3 October.
Issues:
Beyond Turkey’s acceptance as a negotiating candidate, the 3 October
decisions reached in Luxembourg also affect Croatia and may have a
bearing on the Union’s future enlargement. Austria’s stance is also
a major moot point.
Positions:
Britain
According to The Times, “Austria has made an ugly contribution,
calling for the defence of “Fortress Europe”. Its objections sound
xenophobic as well as utterly futile, given that Austrian jobs will
face fierce competition from countries other than Turkey[…] but it
has made two important points, which Britain, Turkey’s most passionate
advocate, must answer. The first is that Europe has made a bad job
in the past of insisting that accession countries actually carry out
the reforms that they have promised to make. The second is that the
Austrian Government is “listening to the people”. After the defeat
of the constitution in France and the Netherlands this summer, that
is not an argument that any European leader can dismiss.”
The Mail also lauded Britain’s victory, adding that “the 25-nation EU
made clear its capacity to embrace the NATO nation on the borders of
Europe and the Middle East would be a factor in the pace of entry,
as well as Ankara’s progress in meeting strict criteria on rights
and other issues.”
The Financial Times chose to highlight the risks and the drawbacks
associated with the start of Turkey’s accession talks. “The 25
governments have failed not merely to sell the idea of future
enlargement, but also to persuade their electorates the last was a
good idea”.
The Independent said that the 3 October “decision could be one of the
most far-reaching taken since France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands,
Belgium and Luxembourg, first embarked on their experiment in European
integration half a century ago. A project originally designed to heal
the divisions in Europe is now in the vanguard of efforts to build
bridges between the West and the Islamic world.”
France
According to Le Figaro, “Cette victoire a l’arrache, dans une
atmosphère surrealiste, a laisse des traces, notamment dans les
pays d’Europe centrale. Plusieurs delegations reprochent aux
Britanniques leur methode de negociation un peu brutales, pas
toujours très transparentes, privilegiant les contacts bilateraux
aux reunions de groupe. […] Cet accord secret ternit la victoire de
la Grande-Bretagne, qui a dû renoncer a sa position de principe sur
le Tribunal penal international et sur la Croatie pour obtenir gain
de cause sur la Turquie. Ce marchandage inavouable, qui a abouti a
l’ouverture inattendue des pourparlers d’adhesion avec Zagreb lundi
soir, decredibilise en meme temps le discours de Carla Del Ponte,
qui assure, sans convaincre, qu’elle n’a subi aucune pression pour
donner son feu vert sur la Croatie”.
“On aurait aime pouvoir applaudir la decision des Vingt-Cinq de tenir
parole en engageant des negociations avec la Turquie et la Croatie,
comme une preuve de la vision strategique […]”, writes French
daily Liberation. “Helas, ils l’ont fait de la pire manière. Moins par
conviction que pour eviter un nouvel echec, après le rejet du projet de
Constitution et le budget introuvable. Et en raison d’un marchandage
” Croatie contre Turquie “ qui prouve, dans le cas croate, que les
principes du droit international que l’UE pretend defendre bec et
ongles pèsent peu au regard de considerations politiques. Et, dans
le cas turc, qu’une fuite en avant dans le sens de l’elargissement
empeche le debat, pourtant indispensable, sur les implications de ce
processus […]
Germany
Germany’s Der Tagesspiegel likened the EU to a “woman who, just
before getting married, decides that Europe needs more time to mull
over whether they can end up as a couple or simply be good friends”.
Die Welt said Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel “spoke out loud
what numerous Europeans think, but are not allowed to say: full EU
membership for Turkey is nonsense until the fundamental questions of
the EU’s purpose, size and finances have been clarified.”
According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Europe risks being
destroyed by aiming to expand beyond its limits.
Deutsche Welle said that “The ultimate aim of the talks is, inevitably,
Turkish accession, but entry is by no means in the bag.
[…] For the time being, piling on the pressure [on Turkey] is
counter-productive – all it will do is fan the flames of anti-EU
sentiment within this mainly Muslim country”.
Austria
Der Standard pointed to the possible motives behind Austria’s
insistence on changing Turkey’s negotiating framework (the changes,
actually, were “hardly perceptible”, the author added). It said that a
key driving power was Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik’s “look what we
dare” approach which was aimed at diverting the public’s attention from
the government’s approaching fiasco in the Steiermark by-elections.
Die Presse said that Vienna “played a high-risk game and won”.
“Nobody can take away from [Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel] the merit
of having been the only head of government to have openly expressed
the deep unease of Europe’s citizens over the EU’s policy on Turkey”.
The Netherlands
The Dutch paper De Volkskrant calls the EU’s decision a “Pyrrhic
victory”. Only at the expense of loss of credibility could the EU
have left the road it had taken many years ago. But continuing on
this road might also have negative consequences as a majority of the
public opinion clearly opposes Turkey’s membership. Sometimes it is
better to turn halfway than to continue, even if the original journey
looked promising, argues the paper.
Turkey
Hurriyet said that after 3 October “we are entering Europe on the
way to peace and co-operation”.
Milliyet lauded the opening of the accession talks as a “crucially
important step” towards “a new Europe and a new Turkey”.
The daily Sabah’s headline said that “Turkey and the EU lock their
fates, the civilisations embrace”.
Spain
The Spanish daily El Mundo said that “Turkey received a half yes”.
The paper recalled that the main stumbling bloc in the way of Turkey
is its “huge population and the state of its economy” and that many
EU countries and citizens remain wary of Turkey’s eventual accession.
El Pais warned that “the end of this adventure is not in the bag. If
what began today goes wrong in the end, it will be bad news for
everyone”.
Hungary
The daily Magyar Hirlap quoted a spokesman of the Hungarian Foreign
Ministry as saying that the 3 October decision was a “brave and
historical one”. According to Budapest, membership of the EU is the
most efficient method for encouraging the democratic processes and
settling disputes in a peaceful manner. Hungary will do its best
to help Turkey as well as Croatia in their preparation for full
EU membership.
Slovakia
According to the daily SME, Bratislava has been a supporter of Turkey’s
EU bid since the beginning. At the same time, the Slovak parliament
adopted a resolution in which it considered the killing of Armenians
in the 1920s a genocide. The paper recalled that Slovak Prime Minister
Mikulas Dzurinda welcomed the opening of negotiations with both Ankara
and Zagreb. Meanwhile, the country’s governing conservative party
(the Christian Democrats – KDH) are opposed to Turkey’s EU accession.
Czech Republic
The Czech daily Hospodarske Noviny said that while the country’s Prime
Minister Jiri Paroubek welcomed the acceptance of Turkey and Croatia as
negotiating candidates, the Czech People’s Party continues to favour a
“privileged partnership” scenario for Turkey and would prefer to put
Turkey’s EU accession to referendum in the country.
Romania
The daily Evenimentul Zilei said that “Old member of NATO, Turkey,
participates in the Alliance with the second biggest army after the US
(who intervened in favour of the accession). [Turkey] has potential
due to the fast economic growth. And demographically, it would bring
youth to the aging population of Europe, where a pension crisis is
occurring. On the other hand, the EU is going to absorb a country
with a population of 70 million, with an income per capita lower
that Romania’s. The regional funds and the agricultural subsidies
for Turkey would seriously affect the community budget, the same
budget the East Europeans are stretching. Turkey would bring to the
EU traditions and mentalities different to the European ones, most of
them belonging to the Islamic religion. But Turkey is a secular state,
not an Islamic one”.
Denmark
The daily Politiken said that “The goodwill that has benefited
countries like Bulgaria and Romania, and which in the view of many
observers has paved the way for them into the EU in spite of them
not quite respecting the actual membership conditions, will not apply
to Turkey”.
Sweden
The daily Dagens Nyheter said that “One could claim the enlargement
is one of the EU’s big achievements. It has united a Europe that was
once separated by force. The EU has managed to spread democracy and
respect for human rights in a way the US has never done […] If the
EU lets go of this task, turns inward and stops its growth, one could
even ask what good the EU actually does”.
–Boundary_(ID_MM4AdnFmsVa0lj3wRTNlQQ)–