Post by Topcontender on Feb 19, 2003 8:25:00 GMT -5
Chirac, in an unusual outburst to reporters in Brussels after a contentious emergency EU summit meeting Monday on Iraq, derided those Central and East European countries that have signed letters expressing their support for the United States as "childish," "dangerous" and missing "an opportunity to shut up."
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He went on to suggest that opposing France and Germany could hurt candidates for EU membership.
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"When you are in the family," Chirac said, "you have more rights than when you are asking to join and knocking on the door."
.
He warned that Romania and Bulgaria, the poorest of the 10 candidates to the 15-member bloc, "could hardly find a better way" of reducing their chances for membership by speaking up against France.
.
The war of words heightened tension between the two sides as leaders of the European Union aspirants arrived Tuesday in Brussels for a briefing on the emergency summit meeting, which they were not invited to attend despite appeals by Britain and Spain.
.
That tension has grown steadily as Central and East European countries have sided with the United States over how to resolve the Iraq crisis.
.
France and Germany have resisted the American push for military action, leading the U.S. defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, last month to chastise the two as "old Europe," out of step with the "new Europe" made up of former Soviet bloc countries. The divide broke into the open when eight European leaders, including those from EU candidates Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, signed a letter of support for Washington's position in January.
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That letter was followed by another signed by 10 countries, including seven EU candidates.
.
The controversy has highlighted France's ambivalence toward the European Union's enlargement, which it has long feared would weaken the Europe's power on the world stage, or at least weaken France's ability to dominate it.
.
Jacques Rupnik, a leading French expert on Central and Eastern Europe, said the French were beginning to feel that they perhaps ought not to have let the Easterners join the EU after all.
.
"There is a lot of irritation in France about the alignment of the candidates toward the U.S. position," said Rupnik, adding there is suspicion in France that the poorer European countries are attracted only by EU economic support but that "for the serious stuff they address themselves to Washington."
.
Differences papered over
.
In the end, the two sides united Tuesday behind a hard-fought declaration warning Iraq that it has one last chance to disarm, papering over the acrimonious dispute, The Associated Press reported from Brussels.
.
The joint declaration agreed to by the present EU members Monday night and endorsed Tuesday by the future members warns Iraq that it must disarm "fully and completely."
.
They agreed to give UN weapons inspectors more time, but set no deadlines and asserted that "war is not inevitable," a concession to France and Germany, which have long sought a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
.
"We had extensive, very effective and constructive consultations and we have reached an agreement," on the EU summit declaration, said Prime Minister Costas Simitis of Greece, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.
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But the Chirac tirade demonstrated the limits of the declaration in achieving a united front.
.
"It is not really responsible behavior," Chirac told reporters Monday just after the EU issued its declaration on Iraq. "It is not well-brought-up behavior. They missed a good opportunity to keep quiet."
.
Britain and Germany defended the future members' right to express their own opinions, a blow to French aspirations to be one of the primary architects of European foreign policy. Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain made clear his disagreement with Simitis's decision excluding the new members from the emergency summit meeting on Monday. "They have as much right to speak up as Great Britain or France or any other member of the European Union today," Blair said in London. EU candidates say they will not stay silent on war with Iraq
BRUSSELS The continental rift over Iraq widened sharply Tuesday after East European candidates for European Union membership reacted indignantly to advice from President Jacques Chirac of France to pipe down on the subject or risk losing their chance to join Europe's most powerful economic and political club.
.
"We thought we were preparing for war with Saddam Hussein and not Jacques Chirac," said Alexander Vondar, deputy foreign minister of the Czech Republic, one of the EU applicants that have drawn French ire by openly supporting the United States and Britain in the Iraqi crisis. Vondar said his country and its immediate neighbors "definitely cannot remain silent," as Chirac advised Monday.
.
Adam Rotfeld, deputy foreign minister of Poland, the largest of the EU candidates, said, "France has a right to define its own policy and we have to respect it," but he added that France must offer the same respect to Poland.
.
Chirac, in an unusual outburst to reporters in Brussels after a contentious emergency EU summit meeting Monday on Iraq, derided those Central and East European countries that have signed letters expressing their support for the United States as "childish," "dangerous" and missing "an opportunity to shut up."
.
He went on to suggest that opposing France and Germany could hurt candidates for EU membership.
.
"When you are in the family," Chirac said, "you have more rights than when you are asking to join and knocking on the door."
.
He warned that Romania and Bulgaria, the poorest of the 10 candidates to the 15-member bloc, "could hardly find a better way" of reducing their chances for membership by speaking up against France.
.
He went on to suggest that opposing France and Germany could hurt candidates for EU membership.
.
"When you are in the family," Chirac said, "you have more rights than when you are asking to join and knocking on the door."
.
He warned that Romania and Bulgaria, the poorest of the 10 candidates to the 15-member bloc, "could hardly find a better way" of reducing their chances for membership by speaking up against France.
.
The war of words heightened tension between the two sides as leaders of the European Union aspirants arrived Tuesday in Brussels for a briefing on the emergency summit meeting, which they were not invited to attend despite appeals by Britain and Spain.
.
That tension has grown steadily as Central and East European countries have sided with the United States over how to resolve the Iraq crisis.
.
France and Germany have resisted the American push for military action, leading the U.S. defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, last month to chastise the two as "old Europe," out of step with the "new Europe" made up of former Soviet bloc countries. The divide broke into the open when eight European leaders, including those from EU candidates Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, signed a letter of support for Washington's position in January.
.
That letter was followed by another signed by 10 countries, including seven EU candidates.
.
The controversy has highlighted France's ambivalence toward the European Union's enlargement, which it has long feared would weaken the Europe's power on the world stage, or at least weaken France's ability to dominate it.
.
Jacques Rupnik, a leading French expert on Central and Eastern Europe, said the French were beginning to feel that they perhaps ought not to have let the Easterners join the EU after all.
.
"There is a lot of irritation in France about the alignment of the candidates toward the U.S. position," said Rupnik, adding there is suspicion in France that the poorer European countries are attracted only by EU economic support but that "for the serious stuff they address themselves to Washington."
.
Differences papered over
.
In the end, the two sides united Tuesday behind a hard-fought declaration warning Iraq that it has one last chance to disarm, papering over the acrimonious dispute, The Associated Press reported from Brussels.
.
The joint declaration agreed to by the present EU members Monday night and endorsed Tuesday by the future members warns Iraq that it must disarm "fully and completely."
.
They agreed to give UN weapons inspectors more time, but set no deadlines and asserted that "war is not inevitable," a concession to France and Germany, which have long sought a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
.
"We had extensive, very effective and constructive consultations and we have reached an agreement," on the EU summit declaration, said Prime Minister Costas Simitis of Greece, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.
.
But the Chirac tirade demonstrated the limits of the declaration in achieving a united front.
.
"It is not really responsible behavior," Chirac told reporters Monday just after the EU issued its declaration on Iraq. "It is not well-brought-up behavior. They missed a good opportunity to keep quiet."
.
Britain and Germany defended the future members' right to express their own opinions, a blow to French aspirations to be one of the primary architects of European foreign policy. Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain made clear his disagreement with Simitis's decision excluding the new members from the emergency summit meeting on Monday. "They have as much right to speak up as Great Britain or France or any other member of the European Union today," Blair said in London. EU candidates say they will not stay silent on war with Iraq
BRUSSELS The continental rift over Iraq widened sharply Tuesday after East European candidates for European Union membership reacted indignantly to advice from President Jacques Chirac of France to pipe down on the subject or risk losing their chance to join Europe's most powerful economic and political club.
.
"We thought we were preparing for war with Saddam Hussein and not Jacques Chirac," said Alexander Vondar, deputy foreign minister of the Czech Republic, one of the EU applicants that have drawn French ire by openly supporting the United States and Britain in the Iraqi crisis. Vondar said his country and its immediate neighbors "definitely cannot remain silent," as Chirac advised Monday.
.
Adam Rotfeld, deputy foreign minister of Poland, the largest of the EU candidates, said, "France has a right to define its own policy and we have to respect it," but he added that France must offer the same respect to Poland.
.
Chirac, in an unusual outburst to reporters in Brussels after a contentious emergency EU summit meeting Monday on Iraq, derided those Central and East European countries that have signed letters expressing their support for the United States as "childish," "dangerous" and missing "an opportunity to shut up."
.
He went on to suggest that opposing France and Germany could hurt candidates for EU membership.
.
"When you are in the family," Chirac said, "you have more rights than when you are asking to join and knocking on the door."
.
He warned that Romania and Bulgaria, the poorest of the 10 candidates to the 15-member bloc, "could hardly find a better way" of reducing their chances for membership by speaking up against France.
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