THE EU’S RING OF FRIENDSHIP: BUDDIES IN BAKU, AMIGOS IN ARMENIA
By Hans-Jurgen Schlamp
Spiegel Online
0,1518,539799,00.html
March 6 2008
Germany
Where does Europe end? The EU’s Neighborhood Policy seeks to ensure
prosperity and stability in countries bordering the 27-member club.
The problem is, the neighbors would like to join, too.
The tall, black-haired man scowls at the small blonde woman sitting
across the expansive conference table from him. She has been holding
forth for some time, accusing him of not adequately respecting
human rights, saying that the next elections must be run more
fairly than the last, and warning that freedom of the press must
finally be broadened. At the end of her monologue, she is somewhat
more conciliatory and allows that the country has made progress —
"but things could move faster."
Elmar Mammadyarov struggles to control his rising anger. He is
the foreign minister of the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan,
a land rich in oil and gas and sitting on the shores of the Caspian
Sea, north of Iran. And no one is allowed to talk to him like this
normally, except perhaps his boss, the president. But Mammadyarov makes
the effort because the woman sitting across from him is incredibly
important for Azerbaijan.
The outspoken guest is the Austrian Benita Ferrero-Waldner. The 59 year
old is the European Commissioner for External Relations and responsible
for the European Neighborhood Policy — and she regularly visits the
countries bordering the EU, from Morocco and Egypt, through Jordan,
Israel or the Ukraine, to Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. She
frequently makes calls for more democracy and promises in return
"stability, security and prosperity."
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in your publication. The EU has already given over ~@8 billion ($12.2
billion) to 12 countries on its borders and plans to hand out another
~@12 billion ($18.2 billion) over the next six years. The result of
this investment, hopes Ferrero-Waldner, will be a region that is both
relatively prosperous and politically stable. The hope is that this
"ring of friends," as she has called the plan, will keep terrorists
away and unwanted immigrants at arm’s length.
But the rosy plan has a catch: Most of these neighbors aren’t just
interested in stability and prosperity, but they also have their
hearts set on eventually becoming full-fledged members of the EU.
Above all, it is the countries on the eastern edge of the European
continent that have gotten their hopes up — and not without
justification. Poland, Great Britain and the Baltic States all would
like to extend the borders of the EU as far as the Caspian Sea. The
region is waiting in the EU-enlargement line directly behind the
Balkans — it’s just that nobody is supposed to talk about it yet.
"No, no," denies the Austrian Commissioner, "membership perspective"
is not part of her plan. The neighborly friendship may extend to
substantial support, but not beyond. It is "a difficult, fine line
to walk," she says.
That may be true. But the greater EU cooperation with its neighbors
becomes, the more pertinent the old question that has plagued the
27-member group since its inception becomes: Where does Europe in fact
end? Is Georgia part of Europe? What about Morocco? Israel? And then,
of course, what about Ukraine?
DER SPIEGEL Does Europe extend to the Caucausus?
Ferrero-Waldner and her team have developed a separate "action plan"
with each of the 12 participants in the European Neighborhood Policy.
Europe helps with expertise and funding in areas such as
transportation, job training, energy supply, the training of customs
officers, police or judges, and in providing the poor with food
and clothing — and the countries themselves can choose where the
focus should lie. And then there is a bit of tutoring in the study of
democracy and the constitutional state thrown in — as, for example,
with Elmar Mammadyarov in Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital.
Ferrero-Waldner continues the mandatory lesson over dinner: When
will these three journalists, who were arrested without reason,
be released? Why is the government doing so little to improve its
relationship with Moscow? Well, answers a grouchy Mammadyarov, the
journalists must first file a petition for their release, which will
then be reviewed by a judge. And he would like improved relations
with Russia as well, but Azerbaijan is not going to kowtow. His
country, after all, has become a "well-performing mid-sized power in
the region."
Just how much has changed in recent years can immediately be seen
during rush hour in Baku. Traffic jams stretch as far as the eye can
see, with rusty old trucks from the Soviet era stuck bumper-to-bumper
with highly polished sport utility vehicles. In 2007, economic growth
was around 25 percent, thanks to oil and gas bubbling out of the
ground. The gulf between rich and poor has widened considerably,
and beggars stand in front of Armani and Escada shop windows.
An internal EU paper on Azerbaijan takes note of the economic progress
the country has made. Nevertheless, when it comes to democracy, freedom
of the press or human rights, the official message in the paper is
that of "persistent difficulties." That also goes for Azerbaijan’s
neighbors, Georgia and Armenia — and Ferrero-Waldner is not shy
about voicing her concerns there as well.
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Moreover, the strong nerves that often earn her ridicule at
home serve her well. In the Caucasus, she often faces hard-boiled
nationalists. What the spokesperson of a human rights organization —
financed by the EU — says of Armenia, applies to Georgia as well:
"There is an extremely corrupt political leadership, no free judicial
system, no free press, and the elections are no freer than they were
in the Soviet Union."
But those are only the "horror stories," says Georgian Prime Minister
Vladimir Gurgenidze. He speaks English with an American accent and
greets people by singing out "Hi, everybody!" Of course there are
improvements that need to be made, he says — and that’s why his
country needs help from Brussels. "Europe is in our hearts and our
minds," gushes Gurgenidze. "We want free trade with you, facilitation
of visas and EU membership."
Georgia will be joining NATO soon, says Gurgenidze, at the latest when
there is a Democrat in the White House. And there are already Georgian
soldiers in both Iraq and Afghanistan. "The Americans recognize that,"
adds Gurgenidze smugly, looking at Ferrero-Waldner, his European guest:
"It’s good to have friends."