No to arms, yes to diplomacy

Some expressions of satisfaction, others a good deal less so: “unity of intentions” was affirmed; concerns about the geopolitical situation in the Caucasus were confirmed; and financial estimates made for humanitarian aid and the reconstruction of the areas involved in the war. The extraordinary summit of the EU in Brussels on 1st September, dedicated to the conflict between Russia and Georgia, established the next moves of the 27, aimed at re-establishing peace in the region in compliance with international law.After the summit, Sarkozy in Moscow. At the end of the brief (perhaps too brief for so complex a problem) summit held in Brussels, the current chair of the EU Council, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, explained that “it wasn’t an anti-Russian meeting”, in spite of the “firm condemnation” of Moscow’s recognition of the separatist claims of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and even more so of the hard-line military crackdown decided by Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev. At the end of their discussion, the heads of state and of government avoided the imposition of sanctions against Russia. They decided instead to symbolically suspend the negotiations for a new accord on economic partnership, and confirmed the date for the next bilateral summit, already fixed for 14 November in Nice. On Monday 8 September Sarkozy himself will go to Moscow, accompanied by EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso, to ascertain Russia’s willingness to implement in its entirety the six-point accord signed on 12 August for the cessation of military operations.The Russian threat and gas supplies. The approach that prevailed in Brussels was just the one dictated by Sarkozy, aimed at pursuing as far as possible a diplomatic rather than a military solution, providing humanitarian aid to the populations who were the victims of the conflict, and doing everything possible to prevent the tensions from spreading to other countries (Ukraine, Moldova and various former Soviet republics). The objectives include that of maintaining good relations with Russia, which remains a strategic provider of energy sources for much of the EU. All the main countries of the EU supported Sarkozy’s line, while the UK, Poland, the Baltic Republic and the countries of Eastern Europe would have preferred a more determined position: the “Russian bear” still strikes fear beyond the former Iron Curtain. The EU to allocate 110 millions for Georgia. According to Bernard Kouchner, French Foreign Minister, one of the main “players” at the summit, the final document demonstrates that “the unity of Europe prevailed”. It attests that the EU “considers the military actions unacceptable, underlines the disproportionate character of the Russian reaction, condemns the recognition of the separatist regions” and “recalls the duty to guarantee the integrity of Georgia”. Kouchner then expressed the EU’s “willingness to hold an international conference, with the participation of the UNO and other partners, to facilitate progress in the negotiations”. Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EU Commissioner for External Relations, for her part described the concrete interventions already realized or planned by the European Union in Georgia. “The Commission – she said – has allocated 6 million euros for emergency aid for the people involved in the war. To these funds should be added a further 9 million allocated by member countries”. The EU “has thus succeeded in covering the most urgent needs” of the stricken populations. Ferrero-Waldner quantifies as “110 million euros the total cost for future measure of aid and reconstruction”.Political action, energy and nationalism. Immediately after the summit, the European Parliament, meeting in plenary session in the Belgian capital, also tackled the crisis in the Caucasus. Many differing positions emerged in the chamber, although all started out from a firm condemnation of Moscow, without ignoring criticism of the action of Tbilisi. The French People’s Party exponent Joseph Daul for example said that Russia “must respect the territorial integrity of other States”: therefore the recognition of the separatist regions of Ossetia and Abkhazia “violates international law”. Daul then reaffirmed the duty to “guarantee the flow of energy supplies” and to “reinforce” “collaboration with the USA” in this region. According to the Austrian Socialist Hannes Swoboda “nothing justifies the Russian intervention, expression of an imperialist position”. The English Liberal Democrat Graham Watson maintained that “it’s right to condemn the Russian reaction, but the Russian bear should not be cornered”. Konrad Szymanski, Polish MEP and member of the Europe of Nations group, declared: “Russia must be made to understand what political and economic isolation means, otherwise she will feel herself authorized to act just as she pleases”. The German Green Daniel Cohn-Bendit for his part made an appeal “to extirpate from the region of the Caucasus the nationalism that leads to war”.