MILIBAND: TURNING TURKEY AWAY FROM EU ‘UNCONSCIONABLE'[FR][DE]

EurActiv
ctiv.com/en/enlargement/miliband-turning-turkey-aw ay-eu-unconscionable/article-186790
Oct 27 2009

In a major foreign policy speech pronounced on Monday (26 October),
UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband called for Turkey’s full membership
of the EU, provided that the candidate country satisfies human rights
standards and addresses the role of the military and the separation
of powers.

Speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in
London, Miliband said that being European is about values, not race
or religion, and therefore having a Muslim country with a secular
public realm can only strengthen the Union.

Without alluding to France or Germany, which recently proposed a
‘privileged partnership’ for Ankara (EurActiv 08/05/09 and 11/05/09),
the UK’s primary diplomat said that he was aware of such views, but
added that in his perspective most of these concerns "are based on
a static and frankly out-of-date view of what modern Turkey is".

Miliband listed the advantages of Turkey’s EU membership, pointing
to its role as an important transit country for securing Europe’s
energy supply, as well as for tackling drugs and international
criminal routes.

Miliband also spoke about Europe’s responsibility to integrate the
Western Balkans, highlighting the need to solve current setbacks
in Bosnia and Herzegovina (EurActiv 21/10/09). In a broader sense,
he said that by enlarging, the EU has become stronger, and that all
had benefited from this – both older members and newcomers.

"No-one believes that in the next twenty years the EU could or should
double in size again. But if we fail to use our power to break down
the barriers between the EU and its neighbours, freeing up trade,
investment, and travel, and welcoming new members, we will all –
not just aspirant members – pay a significant price. The figures
actually speak volumes here – in less than 10 years trade between
the old and new member states grew almost threefold," Miliband said.

The UK foreign secretary also saw the Eastern Partnership, the
recently launched new framework for cooperation between the European
Union and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine
(see EurActiv 07/11/08), as a "step toward possible membership"
of the Union.

In fact, a number of EU countries, including France and Germany, had
insisted that the Eastern Partnership should not contain a promise
for EU membership, and even refused to call it the ‘Eastern European
Partnership’.

British diplomats told the press that Miliband’s speech was not to be
seen as a policy programme in a campaign for the post of the EU’s High
Representative for Foreign Affairs. Miliband himself said that he was
"fully booked" and did not harbour ambitions of an EU career.

According to many pundits, Miliband’s pro-Turkey positions will
likely exclude him from the race, as he would be vetoed by "more than
one country".