| THE HANDSTAND | FEB.-MARCH2011 |
EUROPEAN UNION REPORTS
Foreign Minster Avigdor Lieberman was challenged by a reporter during his visit to the European Council, when the man told Lieberman that he was under citizens' arrest and demanded that Lieberman accompany him to the nearest police station.
David Cronin, a freelance reporter and author of the book "Europe's Alliance with Israel: Aiding the Occupation" was tackled by security officials only seconds after he began to address Lieberman and physically escorted from the room.
As Lieberman entered a press conference, Cronin stood up and declared, "Mr. Lieberman, this is a citizens' arrest. You are charged with the crime of apartheid. Please come with me to the nearest police station." As he was dragged away, he shouted, "Free Palestine! Free Palestine! Apartheid is a crime!"
This was not the first time that Cronin has tried to carry out a citizens' arrest of a high-ranked public official. Last year he tried to single-handedly arrest former British Prime Minister Tony Blair for what he said were crimes against the people of Iraq.
A member of the Israeli delegation to the European Union said, "This was entirely uncivilized, in bad taste. But Israel, like the EU, is very supportive of free speech. It's just a shame that some people take advantage of that freedom sometimes," according to the European Union Observer.
Foreign Minister Lieberman is in Brussels for the annual meeting of the decade-old EU-Israel Association Council. Earlier on Tuesday, Hungary's foreign minister Janos Martonyi, whose country currently chairs the EU, told Lieberman that growing instability in the Middle East makes it imperative to immediately resume the stalled peace process with the Palestinians.
Commission memo highlights anxiety over 'bureaucratic culture'
10.02.2011 @ 17:48 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission is keen to change its culture of "entitlement" and "bureaucratic focus" as it prepares to propose new ways to extract money directly from EU taxpayers in an upcoming €1 trillion budget plan.
The internal mood is evident in a six-page-long memo dated January and signed by commission secretary-general Catherine Day, which says: "We must be able to demonstrate that the activities we propose to fund out of the EU budget can be delivered with greater added value by the EU than by member states alone." It adds: "Conditionality in the provision of funding should be ensured so that the achievement of results (rather than a culture of entitlement or a bureaucratic focus on inputs) is the prime focus." The text, seen by EUobserver, is peppered with instructions to EU officials to kill off under-performing EU projects, to "streamline," to "simplify" and to become more "efficient" in the way they work.
The commission boss also told staff to use old IT resources instead of dreaming up fancy new systems. "Services ought to design processes that can be underpinned by standard IT systems not requiring costly new developments and customisation," she noted. The letter from the Irish-origin Ms Day comes at a time when many EU countries are cutting welfare and raising taxes in a bid to rein in debt. It also comes after Berlin, London and Paris last year began bashing Brussels for trying to raise its budget and staff salaries, with the crisis politics feeding anti-EU sentiment around the bloc.
Despite the delicate climate, the Day memo confirms that the commission will ask EU member states to give more money automatically in future. "On the financing side, the commission will make a new proposal for a new own-resources decision," it says.
The commission's 'own resources' today - a levy on EU countries' customs income - brings in just 10 percent or so of its needs.
"Preparatory work on the set-up of innovative financial instruments is being taken forward in the relevant commissioners' group chaired by commissioner Rehn," Ms Day said. She noted that the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg is a potential agency for handling the new mechanisms. The Day memo made clear that the duration and the total value of the new budget blueprint, due in June, is still up in the air. "[Despite the commission's] preference for a 10 year MFF [Multi-annual Financial Framework] with a mid-term review after five years, this issue currently remains open for discussion," she wrote. "No decision has been taken on the size of the budget or on the share of any policy or activity inside the budget."
OUTCRY AT POSSIBLE POLITICISATION OF HUMANITARIAN AID
Outcry at EU plan to mix aid and foreign policy
10.02.2011 @ 17:53 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Discussions are under way for a potential merger between the EU's humanitarian aid and crisis management budgets after 2013, raising concerns among a number of NGOs and MEPs that EU aid could become increasingly politicised. The commission's humanitarian aid budget in 2010 was €1.2 billion, administered by Bulgarian commissioner Kristalina Georgieva, while crisis management resources are being increasingly directed by the EU's new External Action Service under Italian official Agostino Miozzo, working for high representative Catherine Ashton. "There is an idea on the table [to merge the two budgets] which is being considered by some people," a commission official working in the humanitarian aid sector said on Thursday (10 February) on condition of anonymity. "It's not a formal proposal at the moment and it's not something we would support."
The commission is to come forward with a blueprint for the EU's next multi-annual budget in June this year. But some MEPs are already warning they will not tolerate any transfer of humanitarian decision making, implied by the budget merger, to Catherine Ashton, who answers primarily to member states despite her official duties in the EU-centric commission. "I don't know where the idea came from or how developed it is. It may be a wrongly interpreted idea of efficiency or part of the inter-institutional power politics currently going on," Dutch Socialist MEP Thijs Berman told this website. "If it ends up in the June proposals I will fight it. Humanitarian aid needs to be impartial in order to ensure that all parties in a recipient country accept it as not favouring one side or the other. This is also crucial for the safety of humanitarian aid workers distributing support on the ground."
The issue of securing political goals through the distribution of aid has come to the fore recently, with UK Prime Minister David Cameron suggesting this week that money from the EU's neighbourhood policy instrument for Egypt could be cut if Cairo fails to implement desired reforms. "We have spent billions of taxpayers' money in Egypt and neighbouring countries," Mr Cameron said on Monday. "But in Egypt, there has been little or no progress on torture, the judiciary, democracy or ending a 30-year-old state of emergency."
This, say NGOs, is precisely the kind of realpolitik that should not influence where the EU delivers money to those suffering from floods, earthquakes or political violence, for example."Scrapping the budget for humanitarian aid would be a fatal error. It would not only tarnish the excellent credentials of the commission as an outstanding humanitarian actor but also endanger millions of people," said Elise Ford, head of Oxfam Internationals EU office.A report published by the NGO on Thursday entitled 'Whose Aid is it Anyway?' says the commission has so far managed to fight the global trend towards humanitarian and development aid being driven by political interests. "Government humanitarian agencies in Canada, Spain and the European Commission, for example, have developed principled policies that allocate humanitarian aid according to transparent indices of global needs, to ensure that different crises and countries are not overlooked or over-funded," says the report.
"Undermining such progress, however, long-standing political and security biases have since 2001 being written formally into some donors' aid policies and practices, as in the USA and France," continues the document. "Other donors, including Australia, the UK and the European Union, may be on the cusp of bringing aid budgets newly under the sway of such priorities."Under a deal reached last year, the EU external action service will now make key decisions under the bloc's development policy, a decision which also faced much opposition.
Ashton aims to visit Tahrir Square, scene of Egypt's revolutionary drama
Tahrir Square, the central location in Cairo whose name means 'Liberation' (Photo: Mahmoud Saber)
Today @ 09:26 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU foreign policy head Catherine Ashton hopes to visit revolutionaries camped out in Tahrir Square in Egypt next week as well as Omar Suleiman, a career spy dubbed the "torturer-in-chief" by protesters, who was chosen by President Hosni Mubarak to oversee the transition process. EUobserver has learnt that Ms Ashton is intending to travel to the country as an extension of a previously scheduled trip to post-revolutionary Tunisia on Monday (14 February).
Mr Suleiman, head of the dreaded Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate since 1993 until he was appointed vice-president by Mr Mubarak on 29 January, is to brief Ms Ashton on the state of negotiations with the opposition. According to an EU source familiar with the EU high representative's schedule, she also aims to speak with "all political forces", including the Muslim Brotherhood. "It's a tricky question as to precisely which groups she's going to meet, but the aim is all of the people who are part of the dialogue that [vice-president] Suleiman is conducting. The [EU] delegation on the ground is organising the contacts, but ... it's not as straightforward as you might think to arrange this," said the official, who stressed that the logistics of the trip, in preparation on Monday (7 February) evening, are complex and highly tentative given how quickly events on the ground can change. "It is possible that she will meet with the Muslim Brotherhood as they have joined this dialogue. There is also an idea that she will go to Tahrir Square. It is part of the logistical preparations, but there is nothing concrete," the source added, referring to the main plaza in Cairo where protesters and pro-Mubarak militia fought deadly battles in recent days.
On Sunday, Mr Suleiman met with representatives of some 50 opposition groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood as well as secular liberal parties Wafd and Ahrar, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohamed ElBaradei's National Association for Change. The results of the first meeting were inconclusive. But reports indicate that the vice-president explored the option of assuming power for an interim period. The EU contact voiced cautious support for Mr Suleiman's efforts: "In order to appease the people on the streets, he is making this process open, with very public statements. The Muslim Brotherhood has decided to meet with him and there appear to be efforts on both sides to move forward with key political reforms." But for his part, Mr ElBaradei told US television channel NBC that the Suleiman talks are not working properly: "The process is opaque. Nobody knows who is talking to whom at this stage ... It is all managed by the military and that is part of the problem."
Human rights groups are also highly critical of the EU and US effort to create a "contained transition" under a man they say may "steal the revolt from the demonstrators." "It's pretty clear that Suleiman is now their man in Cairo," Human Rights Watch's Peter Bouckaert told EUobserver from Egypt. "They know Suleiman very well. He was the key CIA contact and for US and EU counter-terror operators. I'm sure they feel very comfortable with Suleiman. For the EU and US, these relations are more important than the aspirations of the people of Egypt." He added that Brussels and Washington see the democratic process in Egypt as an unquantifiable "threat." "They are moving very hard for a contained transition process, a managed succession that is much more limited than what the protesters are demanding ... We are very concerned about the increased role of Suleiman, that he will carry forward a military-led transition and steal this revolt from the demonstrators and rig elections."
Mr Bouckaert noted that military intelligence services over the weekend began rounding up pro-democracy activists and journalists. "There is enormous pressure to adhere to the military-led process of reform," he said. "It is impossible that a man so central to the security of the regime will be able to manage the dismantling of that same regime."
What next for Mubarak?
According to German media, arrangements are already underway to whisk Mr Mubarak away to a luxury clinic in Baden-Baden, Germany for an "extended health check-up" once the transition is assured.
Discussions about a stay at the MaxBaden-Baden, -Grundig-Klinik Buehlerhoehe in Buehl near which offers hotelDer Spiegel. -like accomodation to its guests are at an advanced stage, reports Policymakers from both of the governing parties have already issued statements offering a German berth to the Egyptian leader should it be required.
Right Wing speech of David Cameron
in munich encouraging rioting ?
5 February 2011
State multiculturalism has failed, says David Cameron
Laura Kuenssberg
David Cameron has criticised "state multiculturalism" in his first speech as prime minister on radicalisation and the causes of terrorism.At a security conference in Munich, he argued the UK needed a stronger national identity to prevent people turning to all kinds of extremism. He also signalled a tougher stance on groups promoting Islamist extremism.
The speech angered some Muslim groups, while others queried its timing amid an English Defence League rally in the UK.
As Mr Cameron outlined his vision, he suggested there would be greater scrutiny of some Muslim groups which get public money but do little to tackle extremism. Ministers should refuse to share platforms or engage with such groups, which should be denied access to public funds and barred from spreading their message in universities and prisons, he argued. "Frankly, we need a lot less of the passive tolerance of recent years and much more active, muscular liberalism," the prime minister said.
David Cameron strode firmly into a debate where many politicians tread timidly.
In his view, such caution is part of the problem. In frank language he made abundantly clear he believes multiculturalism has failed. Any organisation that does not stand up to extremism will be cut off from public funds, and he wants the country to develop a stronger sense of shared identity.It is the first time he has spoken so directly as prime minister, but there are echoes of what has gone before. Tony Blair edged away from multiculturalism in the years after the 7/7 bombings in London, and his ministers moved to stop funding any community organisation that did not challenge extremism. And what of Gordon Brown's continual quest to strengthen "Britishness"? Behind the scenes, ministers are reviewing the "prevent" strategy, the policies designed to try to deal with extremism. But the review, which had been planned for publication this month, is likely to be delayed. It is not clear yet how Mr Cameron will translate his strong words into action.
Human rights
"Let's properly judge these organisations: Do they believe in universal human rights - including for women and people of other faiths? Do they believe in equality of all before the law? Do they believe in democracy and the right of people to elect their own government? Do they encourage integration or separatism?"These are the sorts of questions we need to ask. Fail these tests and the presumption should be not to engage with organisations," he added.
The Labour MP for Luton South, Gavin Shuker, asked if it was wise for Mr Cameron to make the speech on the same day the English Defence League staged a major protest in his constituency.
There was further criticism from Labour's Sadiq Khan whose comments made in a Daily Mirror article sparked a row.The shadow justice secretary was reported as saying Mr Cameron was "writing propaganda material for the EDL".
Conservative Party chairman Baroness Warsi hit back, saying that "to smear the prime minister as a right wing extremist is outrageous and irresponsible". She called on Labour leader Ed Miliband to disown the remarks.
It's time the right hand knew what the far-right hand is doing”
Meanwhile, the Muslim Council of Britain's assistant secretary general, Dr Faisal Hanjra, described Mr Cameron's speech as "disappointing". He told Radio 4's Today programme: "We were hoping that with a new government, with a new coalition that there'd be a change in emphasis in terms of counter-terrorism and dealing with the problem at hand. In terms of the approach to tackling terrorism though it doesn't seem to be particularly new. Again it just seems the Muslim community is very much in the spotlight, being treated as part of the problem as opposed to part of the solution."
In the speech, Mr Cameron drew a clear distinction between Islam the religion and what he described as "Islamist extremism" - a political ideology he said attracted people who feel "rootless" within their own countries. "We need to be clear: Islamist extremism and Islam are not the same thing," he said. The government is currently reviewing its policy to prevent violent extremism, known as Prevent, which is a key part of its wider counter-terrorism strategy.
Inayat Bunglawala from Muslims4Uk says Mr Cameron is "firing at the wrong target"
A genuinely liberal country "believes in certain values and actively promotes them", Mr Cameron said."Freedom of speech. Freedom of worship. Democracy. The rule of law. Equal rights, regardless of race, sex or sexuality. "It says to its citizens: This is what defines us as a society. To belong here is to believe these things."He said under the "doctrine of state multiculturalism", different cultures have been encouraged to live separate lives.
'I am a Londoner too'
"We have failed to provide a vision of society to which they feel they want to belong. We have even tolerated these segregated communities behaving in ways that run counter to our values." Building a stronger sense of national and local identity holds "the key to achieving true cohesion" by allowing people to say "I am a Muslim, I am a Hindu, I am a Christian, but I am a Londoner... too", he said.
Security minister Baroness Neville-Jones said when Mr Cameron expressed his opposition to extremism, he meant all forms, not just Islamist extremism."There's a widespread feeling in the country that we're less united behind values than we need to be," she told Today."There are things the government can do to give a lead and encourage participation in society, including all minorities."
But the Islamic Society of Britain's Ajmal Masroor said the prime minister did not appreciate the nature of the problem. "I think he's confusing a couple of issues: national identity and multiculturalism along with extremism are not connected. Extremism comes about as a result of several other factors," he told BBC Radio 5 live.
Former home secretary David Blunkett said while it was right the government promoted national identity, it had undermined its own policy by threatening to withdraw citizenship lessons from schools.He accused Education Secretary Michael Gove of threatening to remove the subject from the national curriculum of secondary schools in England at a time "we've never needed it more"."It's time the right hand knew what the far-right hand is doing," he said. "In fact, it's time that the government were able to articulate one policy without immediately undermining it with another."
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From www.pressTV.com
Prime Minister David Cameron told the annual conference in the German city of Munich that multiculturalism had failed in the UK and that Britain needed a “muscular liberalism that challenges Islamist extremism more forcefully”. As the prime minister was lecturing the British Muslim community, the EDL's racist thugs were threatening and terrifying them in Luton, a densely Muslim populated area in the UK.
The EDL has staged more than 30 protests in towns and cities across the UK since it was formed in March 2009, many of which have been marred by Islamophobia, racism and violence.
However, the Prime Minister condemned Britain's long-standing policy of multiculturalism as a failure in his speech to the Munich Security Conference.
Cameron signaled a marked change in policy towards Britain's ethnic and religious minorities, saying the "hands-off tolerance" of those who reject Western values has failed.
But, his remarks were dismissed as unwise. “It is unwise that he (the prime minister) did not take the opportunity to reject extremism in all its forms, including that of the EDL”, said Sutcliffe.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation said the Prime Minister was “deeply irresponsible” to link terrorism to matters of cohesion in the UK, adding that his speech was amounted to a “propaganda coup” for the English Defense League. “To link terrorism to cohesion is deeply irresponsible, today his speech is a propaganda coup for the EDL”, said Shafiq. Shafiq denied that multiculturalism had failed in Britain. “If multiculturalism is understanding and respecting people's views, then I think it's been a great success, there are common issues and when we need to come together as a country we do”, he said.
“For the prime minister to suggest the Muslim community doesn't believe in democracy is deeply wrong”, added the chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation.
Farooq Murad, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, criticized the prime minister's failure to mention the EDL in his speech. "We find it very irresponsible that, at a time when we should seek to stand together to fight violence and extremism, Cameron omits any reference to this extremist group spreading hate and bigotry against British Muslims," he said.
Faisal Hanjra, assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain described Cameron's speech as disappointing. "Again it just seems the Muslim community is very much in the spotlight, being treated as part of the problem as opposed to part of the solution", said Faisal Hanjra.
MOL/HETurkey clarifies 'fascist' EU claim
By ANDREW WILLIS
04.02.2011 @ 14:54 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The abolition of salary indexation systems, greater harmonisation of member state corporate tax rates and an overhaul of national pension systems are among the measures contained in a Franco-Geman 'Pact for Competitiveness' for the eurozone, put forward at the EU summit on Friday (4 February).
Other elements included the insertion of a "debt alert mechanism" into national constitutions, the mutual recognition of educational diplomas and the establishment of national crisis management regimes for banks.
The six-point plan is outlined in a draft, seen by EUobserver. Over lunch at the leaders' meeting, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy will attempt to convince their eurozone homologues of the pact's merits.
Details would then be thrashed out at a specially convened summit of eurozone leaders in March, together with an already-scheduled EU summit later in the month.
"We need to increase competitiveness and the yardstick should be the member state that is leading the way," Ms Merkel told journalists immediately prior to the lunch. Suggestions that Germany should increase salaries, potentially harming the country's competitiveness, have irked Berlin in the past.
The German leader indicated that non-eurozone states will also be invited to sign up to the competitiveness pact if they wish.
Mr Sarkozy hailed the initiative as a major step forward. "France and Germany are working hand in glove to defend the euro," he told the joint briefing.
The Franco-German "structural plan" was a way of boosting European competitiveness and ensuring the convergence of member state economies, he added.
The plans for enhanced joint governance of the 17-nation eurozone economy appeared to hit a hurdle almost immediately however, with Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme blasting them as being overly constrictive.
"There must be more economic cooperation, but member states must be left the room to carry out their own policies," Mr Leterme said on arriving at the one-day summit, originally scheduled to discuss energy issues.
"Each member state has its own accents, its own traditions. We will not allow our social model to be undone," he added.
Critics also hit out at the pact's intergovernmental nature, with little role for the EU's institutions envisaged.
"We welcome the move towards greater economic governance as step in the right direction. However, the method being proposed will not provide the required result as it is purely intergovernmental," said the leader of the European Parliament's Liberal group, Guy Verhofstadt.
"The only effective way of ensuring the discipline and objectiveness that is required, is through the Community method and with the empowerment of the Commission to act and set real sanctions."
- Today @ 09:29 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission has said Turkish EU affairs Minister Egemen Bagis could have been "better chosen" his words after he used a Holocaust commemoration event in Auschwitz to say the EU risks emulating "fascist methods of [the] 1930s".
On Thursday (3 February) a spokeswoman for EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fule said Mr Bagis later gave clarifications by phone after his initial comments raised eyebrows in Brussels and further afield.
"Minister Bagis explained to the commissioner that his words were intended to express his concern at the rising role of some extremist groups in the EU and ... that this could contribute to a potential lessening of tolerance towards minorities," said Natasha Butler.
The commissioner was "grateful for this clarification" although "the original words could have been better chosen", especially "given the timing and the location of their pronouncement," she added.
Rising intolerance in the EU and the efforts of Turkish diplomats to save the lives of Jews being persecuted by the Nazi regime were among the topics raised by Mr Bagis is his controversial speech on Tuesday.
"The EU, founded in order to eliminate the threats of that period to peace, is today under the risk of being overtaken by a racist mentality that cannot internalise its own values and emulates the fascist methods of 1930s," he told an audience inside the former German concentration camp.
"Unfortunately today Turkey and the Turkish people in Europe bear the consequences of being different... Turkish people, implicitly or openly, are being told this: 'You are different and you have no place among us.'"
"The best response to these people would be to support and adopt the values of the European Union and principles of democracy more. The only remedy for this distorted mentality is Turkey's accession to the EU."
Mr Bagis outlined the heroic actions of certain Turkish diplomats who served in central and eastern European countries during the period of National Socialism and "risked their lives in order to protect and save the Jews".
However, he rounded on the current Israeli government, demanding an apology for the recent killing of Turkish citizens aboard a relief ship headed to Palestinians in the Gaza strip.
"This unfair and persistent attitude of the Israeli government is not consistent with the historical perspective," he said. "May God not let any nation or country suffer such pain."
Turkey itself has faced repeated criticism over the government's failure to fully recognise what many historians call the 'Armenian genocide' - the killing of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1917.
The Swedish and French parliaments are among those who have passed resolutions recognising the event as a 'genocide', while the European Parliament has also spoken out on the issue.
In a highly critical report adopted by a broad majority of MEPs in the foreign relations committee on 4 September 2006, members voted for the inclusion of a clause calling on Turkey "to recognise the Armenian genocide as a condition for its EU accession".
This requirement was later dropped on 27 September 2006 by the general assembly of the parliament after extensive lobbying from Turkey.
[Comment] After Belarus sanctions, what about Ukraine?
ANDREW RETTMAN
www.EUobserver.com
04.02.2011 @ 13:34 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Belgian caretaker Prime Minister Yves Leterme has said that events in Egypt are a "true test" for the EU's new diplomatic service in remarks to press ahead of an EU summit on Friday (4 February).
Asked by media outside the main EU Council building in Brussels if EU foreign relations chief Catherine Ashton can be trusted to take the lead on EU-Egypt diplomacy, Mr Leterme said: "This is a true test. One should give Madame Ashton the political space so that she can react in the name of the European Union."
Mr Leterme underlined that the Belgian EU presidency late last year gave its full support to Ms Ashton's new-born European External Action Service (EEAS).
"People have to understand the new reality," he added, in reference to the transfer of powers from EU capitals to Brussels ushered in by the Lisbon Treaty in 2009.
Ms Ashton herself on Friday explained that she is in close contact by telephone with Egyptian vice president Omar Suleiman, widely tipped to take over if or when President Hosni Mubarak steps down.
She reported that Mr Suleiman on Thursday night told her he is creating three new committees to deal with the crisis - a committee on economic issues, another on constitutional matters and a third on public order. Placing her trust in Mr Suleiman, she said "there seems to be some movement toward a national dialogue."
She urged Egyptian authorities to: "keep people safe, to make sure that violence does not break out again and that the army plays its proper role."
Asked if Mr Mubarak's defiance on TV on Thursday against calls to resign immediately had irked her or her EU colleagues, she said Egyptian authorities must put forward "a timetable [for political reform] that gives confidence to people that things are going to change."
With the 11-day-long Egyptian protests coming to a crisis on Friday in a planned march on the presidential palace, EU leaders are issuing direct appeals over Ms Ashton's head.
Biritsh PM David Cameron said while entering the EU Council: "Frankly, the steps taken so far haven't met the aspirations of the Egyptian people."
"If we see violence on the streets of Cairo today or the hiring of thugs to beat up protesters, then the Egyptian regime would lose any support and credibility it has in the eyes of the watching world, including Britain," he added, after attacks by pro-Mubarak militias claimed fresh lives on the eve of the EU meeting.
For their part, EU Council head Herman Van Rompuy and EU commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso tried to keep the original summit agenda on track by underlining the importance of talks on EU energy security and economic governance.
On Egypt, Mr Van Rompuy said in welcoming remarks to leaders: "Over luncheon ... we will talk about the democratic breakthrough in Tunisia and in Egypt. There is a powerful dynamic at work and the events have powerful implications for the region and for us." Mr Barroso declined to take questions on Egypt in his doorstep remarks to press.
03.02.2011 @ 17:41 CET
EUOBSERVER / COMMENT - The decision on sanctions against Belarusian leader Aleksander Lukashenko and the wide range of Belarusian officials is very encouraging for many in Ukraine. At the same time, it is very difficult to have any optimism about where President Yanukovich is taking the country.
The first year of the Yanukovych presidency was marked by severe restrictions on democracy and civil liberties. Mr Yanukovich has established absolute control on parliament, the government, police, judiciary, security services, the public prosecutor's office and local administrations - in some cases by illegitimate or at least doubtful means.
All state institutions are serving to strengthen his regime, not democracy. There are many cases of pressure on journalists and civil activists. There are a series of new criminal prosecutions with a clear political motivation.
Does anybody in Brussels see a big difference between the regimes of Mr Lukashenko and Mr Yanukovich? If Yes - just wait. It seems like the last fragments of hope will soon be gone.
The EU was, sadly, among those who nurtured illusions about Mr Yanukovich one year ago. Of course, it was a great pleasure to receive him in the EU capital on his first presidential visit abroad.
Doubtless, Europe was tired of the permanent fighting between the former president, Viktor Yushchenko, and former PM, Yulia Tymoshenko. It wanted stability and real reforms. So it is partly understandable that Europe closed its eyes to the dubious and undemocratic developments taking place in Ukraine during the last year. The time has come to open those eyes.
Europe's repeated demarches about the new Kiev's anti-democratic manouevres, like the criminal prosecution of political enemies, do not have much traction with the Ukrainian authorities. The last case - the ban on Mrs Tymoshenko from visiting her friends in Brussels - is clear evidence.
Europe is mistaken in thinking that if it threatens to freeze progress on the Association Agreement or the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, Mr Yanukovych and his crew will grow a new-found respect for human rights defenders or independent, government-critical journalists.
Let's get real. Genuine European integration stands in diametric contradiction to this administration's interests: an EU-model free press, independent judiciary and an anti-corruption drive is not what they want. Their primary interests are personal wealth and power.
EU demarches and veiled threats will not stop this country heading down the road to being another Belarus. But the threat of sanctions is quite another matter.
The big men of Ukraine are highly tied-in to Europe, in terms of their personal wealth. Being rich in a poor country like Ukraine, they keep their money in EU bank accounts, they take vacations in EU beauty spots and they like to go shopping on the avenues of Paris, London and Rome.
For the Ukrainian elite, Belarus-type exclusion from the EU would be a tragedy. This is the one kind of EU instrument that carries force.
I am not advocating urgent sanctions against Mr Yanukovych and his team. This is neither realistic nor appropriate at this stage. But the EU does need to act pre-emptively, rather than trying to pick up the pieces after a catastrophe of the kind which happened on 19 December in Minsk.
The threat of sanctions - conveyed to the elite either privately or publicly, but clearly and firmly - could put a brake on this country's slide into authoritarian rule. Ukraine is important. Europe - don't be late.
Anatoliy Martsynovski is a Kiev-based journalist for the Ukrainian daily, the Hazeta po-Ukrains'ky
