UK FOREIGN SECRETARY: IN SOME 10 YEARS TURKEY SHOULD BE INSIDE EU ACTING AS BRIDGE TO MUSLIM WORLD

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.07.2008

The prospect of membership is driving political and economic reform
in Turkey and the Western Balkans, according to UK top official.

"The desire to join or to be associated with the biggest single market
in the world is strong, and gives us huge influence. And it is all
too easy to lose sight of the fact that the enlargement of the EU,
both achieved and prospective, is what has driven the institutional
reforms of the Lisbon Treaty," UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband
said in his speech in the House of Commons.

"But the countries of Europe need to be better at using their hard
power. That is why I strongly welcome President Sarkozy’s proposals to
reintegrate France into NATO’s military structure and support for his
call for the EU to play a greater role in crisis management. Britain’s
arguments with France often obscure how much we have in common. But
what strikes me about the French priorities for their Presidency is
how closely they tie with our own ambitions for the EU, as set out
in the Global Europe policy statement last autumn, whether on energy
and climate change, migration, near neighborhood policy, and the next
steps on European defense," he said.

"NATO is and will remain the cornerstone of European defense. Whether
in Afghanistan or Kosovo, we need it to work as effectively as it can,
which is why we want France to play a full role. But as the Balkans
wars in the 1990s demonstrated, unless Europe can develop its own
capabilities it will be consigned always to wait impotently until
the US and NATO are ready and able to intervene."

"This is not a threat to NATO. As the US Ambassador to NATO said:
"the US needs, the UK needs, NATO needs, the democratic world needs
a stronger, more capable European defense capacity. An ESDP with only
soft power is not enough".

This means a genuine role for the EU in conflict prevention and crisis
management whether it is providing the civilian experts – the police
trainers, judges, civil servants and aid workers – that are needed
alongside the military; or deploying soldiers from national armies
in roles where NATO is not engaged. An example is Bosnia where an EU
force of 2,200 is helping to maintain a safe and secure environment,
or the West Bank where the EU is supporting the local police.

So in 10 years time, we should be able to look back at normalizing the
Balkans. Turkey should be inside EU acting as a bridge to the Muslim
world. We can be debating how much fuller access to the European
single market can act as an anchor for stability and democracy in
North Africa and the Middle East just as it has in Eastern Europe,"
Mr Miliband said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress