Baku Sun, Azerbaijan
Sept 1 2006

EU sends warning to Baku

By Ahto Lobajaks

BRUSSELS – European Commission officials have confirmed that European
Neighborhood Policy `action plans’ have been successfully negotiated
with Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia and now await member-state
approval.

The `action plans’ establish the priorities the EU and the South
Caucasus countries involved want to jointly tackle in the course of
the next five years.

However, the announcement of the completion of the action plans was
overshadowed by a stark warning from the commission to Georgia and
Azerbaijan to stop increasing their military budgets.

Strong sentiments

In an unusually strongly worded speech, delivered at a conference in
Slovenia on August 28, the EU’s external relations commissioner,
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, observed that `defense expenditure in the
region is going through the roof.’ A commission official who asked
not to be identified said the particular objects of EU concern are
Georgia and Azerbaijan. Ferrero-Waldner noted in her speech that
increases in defense expenditure send a negative message in terms of
resolving the region’s conflicts. The commissioner also says such
increases are unjustifiable in countries that are `in desperate need
of investment in education, health, and small businesses.’ The
commissioner also criticized leaders in the region for their
`inflammatory rhetoric.’ She also noted there has been `little or no
progress’ toward settling the conflicts in Abkhazia, South Ossetia,
and Nagorno-Karabakh.

EU on the way

Ferrero-Waldner, together with representatives of the EU’s current
Finnish presidency, will visit the Caucasus in early October to mark
the adoption of the `action plans.’

A commission official said the delivery of the plans would not in
itself be conditional on defense cuts.

But the official underlined Ferrero-Waldner’s concerns, noting her
speech also says `resolving or at least de-escalating the conflicts
must be the first priority’ for the EU’s European Neighborhood
Policy.