Increased common foreign policy

The beginning of the New Year is particularly “hot” for the European Union on the international front. The geopolitical framework doesn’t account for distractions given the regional crises, human rights violations, repercussions of the economic crisis… It’s a well-known picture for Catherine Ashton, High Representative for Foreign Affairs, who over the last few hours was called to intervene as the Shepherd Hotel was being torn down in East Jerusalem, over the murder of two young Frenchmen in Niger, on the referendum in Sudan, on the attacks against the Coptic community in Egypt, as well as on the delicate situations in Punjab and Belarus.Old and new challenges. Over one year since the Lisbon Treaty came into force, the EU is still endeavouring to finalize the External Action Service, bound to become the Community’s diplomatic network in the world. The objective complexity of the operation, the slowdown imposed by Member States, the late intervention of Catherine Ashton are further postponing the important goal which the EU had set in Lisbon: to give a single voice to European foreign affairs. In the meantime, the Union is called to address a global situation that has been described as “worrying” in EU institutional seats. The Old Continent reiterates the need for effective neighbourhood policy, so as to prompt former Soviet Republics to adopt the path of democracy and development. The attempt has not yet succeeded in the case of Belarus, which is subjected to the anti-democratic regime of Aleksandr Lukashenko, against whom a set of diplomatic and economic sanctions were finally adopted by the EU. But in Brussels also Russia is always viewed with suspicion, notably Moscow’s regional intervention plan and the lack of real democratic guarantees. Indeed, the EU cannot afford to ignore the new challenges: the consequences of the rise in food prices which is impacting Maghreb countries; the outcomes of the referendum in Sudan; the humanitarian tragedy of cholera in Haiti a year since the earthquake; the insistent tensions between Israelis and Palestinians; the intricate military and political situation of Iraq and Afghanistan; the atomic threats of Northern Korea; the question of the extradition to Italy of the terrorist Cesare Battisti; Portugal’s uncertain public accounts; the dioxin-risk of food products arriving from Germany… Religious freedom in the world. The question of the defence of religious freedom in the world was highlighted by pope Benedict XVI in his speech to the diplomatic corps at the Holy See on January 10. European institutions have been denouncing acts of violence committed against Christians in the world. But the real problem, beyond generical stands, is finding the modalities for effective political and diplomatic intervention. Many voices were heard – albeit with some delay – to condemn the attacks on Christian communities in different countries. On January 1st Catherine Ashton, expressed her “deep sadness over the news of the attack against faithful gathered in the Coptic Church in Alexandria”. “There cannot be any justification for this attack,” Ashton stated. “The rights of Christian Copts to gather and worship freely must be protected”. The possibility of EU intervention. The President of the Commission José Manuel Barroso equally conveyed his grief a few days after the attack. Tolerance, he said, “is a key principle on which the European Union reposes” and “Egyptian Christians’ situation reminded us of the grave situation of Christian minorities”. In the past months also the European Council and Parliament had taken strong stands on religious freedom in the world, while numerous national leaders voiced the same concerns, starting from German chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini and French president Nicolas Sarkozy. The latter denounced “a perverse plan of purges of Eastern Christians from Arab countries”. The theme will be addressed during the plenary session of the European Parliament on January 17-20 and during the Foreign Affairs Council of January 31st. For this purpose the deputy vice-president of the European parliament Gianni Pittella and MEP Mario Mauro, who is also OSCE representative against racism and discrimination, in a joint message issued January 7th wrote: “Across the world, on a daily basis, Christians are subjected to persecution..For a long time now, we have been stressing the urgency of this situation which needs to be addressed as a whole by EU institutions because it goes beyond the political circumstances of each individual country”. “It is necessary to tie economic aid to the protection of religious and ethnic minorities”, Pittella and Mauro remarked.