In name of migrant crisis Europe is ready to foster the relationship with a country whose identity is not clear at all
Opinion
Russia and Turkey are one against the other, Europe need both but chose the Turkish side. Of course in politics political choices are required and needed, but there are certain options better than others or, saying it in other terms, there are certain choices which are worse than other. Standing with Turkey in a moment of diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Russia means building up alliances of uncertain value. Russia is escalating pressure over Turkey, and Europe how will have to choose again. Until which point the can the EU leave Russia in the margin of the external agenda and playing against Russian interests? The EU needs Russia for stability in Middle East, as well as for fighting terrorism but bilateral ties have been already compromised by the Ukrainian crisis, and the Russian military aircraft shot down near the Syrian-Turkish border, with Europeans closer to Ankara, made the situation more complicated. Yesterday the extraordinary EU-Turkey summit on migration showed the EU took already its political decisions. «Re-energizing» the accession process is the principle recognised by everybody expect Cyprus, three billion Euro in commitments to help Turkey in managing refugees is another element of the European weakness. Europe simply can't deal with migrants, and is ready to pay Turkey to stop the flows giving money to a country considered to play a role in human smuggling. In addiction, Ankara of course is asking something in return. These requests are the EU membership («we feel Europeans and we want to be part of the European family», stated the Turkish prime minister Ahmetl Davutoglu), money (three billion Euros per year, not granted by the EU), silence on Kurdistan. The key element of the extraordinary EU-Turkey summit on migration is there is no consensus on anything. Germany is linking the negotiation process for the EU membership to Cyprus, Italy and the European Commission called Turkey to engage in a serious peace process with Kurdish community, and only a generic commitment in some money and speed up the accession process has been granted. Three billion Euros will be made available, but this is just in line of principle since no Country is putting cash.
On the other side it has also to be said that Turkey wasn't less generic. «We are a dynamic democracy», stressed Davutoglu without precising in which direction the dynamic Turkish democracy is moving. Can a deal be signed under this pre-conditions? Given the situation being skeptical could be right. Europe is in trouble. Economy is lagging behind, austerity measures made the situation more complicated, in the Euro area Greece is still source of concern, the investment plan for relaunching the continent is more a bet than an operational programme, in the international scenario others are the main characters. Europe can't guarantee home security and sees in Turkey the possible solution to the contingent problems. It makes more sense, considering that Turkey is a NATO member and an EU candidate country. The reality is that this obliged renewed partnership is explained by the European internal problems, so wow safe and strategic is the alliance with Turkey? How «win-win» can be the final formula of any agreement? Can Europe sacrifice Russia for Turkey? By a political point of view the EU is preferring Ankara to Moscow, because of urgent needs. But acting too quickly can be risky, especially when it is not clear who is dealing with, as it is the case in this EU-Turkey issue.
Related articles:
- Turkey, once again a European problem
Russia and Turkey are one against the other, Europe need both but chose the Turkish side. Of course in politics political choices are required and needed, but there are certain options better than others or, saying it in other terms, there are certain choices which are worse than other. Standing with Turkey in a moment of diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Russia means building up alliances of uncertain value. Russia is escalating pressure over Turkey, and Europe how will have to choose again. Until which point the can the EU leave Russia in the margin of the external agenda and playing against Russian interests? The EU needs Russia for stability in Middle East, as well as for fighting terrorism but bilateral ties have been already compromised by the Ukrainian crisis, and the Russian military aircraft shot down near the Syrian-Turkish border, with Europeans closer to Ankara, made the situation more complicated. Yesterday the extraordinary EU-Turkey summit on migration showed the EU took already its political decisions. «Re-energizing» the accession process is the principle recognised by everybody expect Cyprus, three billion Euro in commitments to help Turkey in managing refugees is another element of the European weakness. Europe simply can't deal with migrants, and is ready to pay Turkey to stop the flows giving money to a country considered to play a role in human smuggling. In addiction, Ankara of course is asking something in return. These requests are the EU membership («we feel Europeans and we want to be part of the European family», stated the Turkish prime minister Ahmetl Davutoglu), money (three billion Euros per year, not granted by the EU), silence on Kurdistan. The key element of the extraordinary EU-Turkey summit on migration is there is no consensus on anything. Germany is linking the negotiation process for the EU membership to Cyprus, Italy and the European Commission called Turkey to engage in a serious peace process with Kurdish community, and only a generic commitment in some money and speed up the accession process has been granted. Three billion Euros will be made available, but this is just in line of principle since no Country is putting cash.
On the other side it has also to be said that Turkey wasn't less generic. «We are a dynamic democracy», stressed Davutoglu without precising in which direction the dynamic Turkish democracy is moving. Can a deal be signed under this pre-conditions? Given the situation being skeptical could be right. Europe is in trouble. Economy is lagging behind, austerity measures made the situation more complicated, in the Euro area Greece is still source of concern, the investment plan for relaunching the continent is more a bet than an operational programme, in the international scenario others are the main characters. Europe can't guarantee home security and sees in Turkey the possible solution to the contingent problems. It makes more sense, considering that Turkey is a NATO member and an EU candidate country. The reality is that this obliged renewed partnership is explained by the European internal problems, so wow safe and strategic is the alliance with Turkey? How «win-win» can be the final formula of any agreement? Can Europe sacrifice Russia for Turkey? By a political point of view the EU is preferring Ankara to Moscow, because of urgent needs. But acting too quickly can be risky, especially when it is not clear who is dealing with, as it is the case in this EU-Turkey issue.
Related articles:
- Turkey, once again a European problem
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