Geopolitical consequences, possible, enlargement, enlargement of the EU, EU European Union, NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization, hostile reactions, European governments, European institutions, cultural compatibility, geopolitical implications, public opinion, Constitutional Treaty of 2005, France, the Netherlands, 2004, 2007, Bulgaria, Romania, members of the EU, Cold War, Europe-puissance, geopolitical problems, Prime Minister Erdo?an, presidency of the Republic, Islamism, Muslim democracy, Turkey, Ukraine, The Caucasus, Iraq, Middle East, European policy, Orange Revolution, GUAM Georgia Ukraine Azerbaijan and Moldova, Russia, Washington, Warsaw, Prague, the United States of America, ABM system, ABM Anti-Ballistic Missile, independence, Kurdistan
The big enlargement of the EU in 2004 and the last one in 2007 to Bulgaria and Romania have been greeted with skepticism or even hostile reactions in large sectors of European public opinion. This situation, which probably contributed to the failure of the Constitutional Treaty in France and the Netherlands in 2005, casts doubt on the possibility of further new enlargements soon. At the same time, some of them are already on the agenda, and others are now in the first stages of discussion among European governments and institutions.
Those prospective or possible enlargements would have huge economic and financial consequences, and would certainly have an influence on the future organization of the Union. And I do not allude here to the problem of the demographic balance inside the Union or the cultural compatibility of the new candidates with Europe, but I would like to insist here on the considerable geopolitical implications for the EU of those possible enlargements, which remain largely forgotten.
[...] That is why the US wants to reshape the whole region along the Western and Southern borders of the Russian federation and link it with the EU and NATO. They also want to station anti-ballistic missiles in Central Europe, officially against Iran eventual atomic weapons. But the Russians have been reacting in what they consider to be Western interference in their area of influence by stressing once again (as during the Cold War) the global rivalry with the West (Putin's speech on May 15, 2006). [...]
[...] The many circles who want Turkish admission, for the geopolitical considerations mentioned above and in order to prove that a democratic Islam is possible, and that Europe is not Christian Club". Wait and see . In the last weeks, there have been some signs that things might be moving towards Turkish accession: Negotiations with Brussels continue. Tension in Cyprus between Greeks and Turks have diminished. President Sarkozy has announced, although he is still against Turkish entry, that he will rescind the amendment to the Constitution decided in his time by Jacques Chirac, according to which a referendum would be necessary for every new adhesion . [...]
[...] The issue is further complicated by the election of the new French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, who is on record as opposing Turkish admission and suggesting instead association. Whether he remains in that position or dilutes it, as did in Germany Frau Merkel, remains to be seen. Anyway, the French would be eventually consulted by referendum. The final outcome is still doubtful, but prospects for Turkish admission are now dim, which might, of course, provoke a strong negative reaction in Turkey, as contend with many supporters of Turkish admission. [...]
[...] One point should be stressed here: the Turkish military is oriented towards the West, the US and NATO much more than towards the EU as such. Erdoğan wants to be admitted in the EU to escape from the control of the military experts on Turkish politics since Kemal. Then the position of Brussels is on that point full of contradictions: Brussels, in negotiating the current process of Turkish accession to the Union, wants to uphold the democratic standards of the Union and refuses to accept any control of the military over Turkish political life, and hence indirectly helps the Islamists to fully control the country and impose values and standards which might not be consistent with those of the Union. [...]
[...] Ukraine Beyond the enlargements now being discussed, others are looming. Since she broke in 2005 (Orange Revolution) with the post-communist, pro-Russian governments, Ukraine has announced that she intends to apply to the EU. On May that country declared, with Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Moldavia, that she would leave the Commonwealth of Independent States which was created around Moscow in 1991 to replace the former Soviet Union and uphold Russian influence over Ukraine, the Caucasus and Central Asia. They intend to form a new group, called the "Organization for Democracy and Economic Development." They want to escape from the Russian sphere of influence, and to join the European and Atlantic area. [...]
APA Style reference
For your bibliographyOnline reading
with our online readerContent validated
by our reading committee
