In bed met Syrie ...

[Pascal L.]

ANALYSIS: WHY IS THE EU COURTING SYRIA?
(University of Texas)

Several European Union (EU) officials have expressed renewed hope that a multifaceted agreement with Syria would come to fruition despite insistence by certain countries that it relinquish its weapons of mass destruction.

However, nothing has changed on the Syrian side; it is the EU that appears to have softened its stance.

Europe and Syria signed what is known as the association agreement in December, which deals with trade, social development, politics, and culture, shortly after the U.S. Senate passed the Syria Accountability Act. The latter is a set of economic sanctions imposed on Syria by the U.S. for support of terrorists and its military presence in neighboring Lebanon.

Europe has been pursuing economic ties with Syria to eventually integrate the state into the Euromed (Euro-Mediterranean) trade zone.

Euromed unified the EU’S 15 member-states with Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria and the Palestinian Authority in a moral, commercial and cultural community in 1995 with the Barcelona Declaration. The process, often referred to as the Barcelona process, is meant to culminate with a fully operational regional free market by 2010.

The union has stated that U.S. pressure would not affect its commitment to Syria and the Euromed.

However, the United Kingdom, Holland, and Germany stalled the process in May, arguing that Syria, believed to possess the Middle East’s largest collection of weapons of mass destruction, must abide by their disarmament demands.

Syria, never admitting to its WMD possessions, maintains that it has the right to defend itself against Israel, which it claims holds the real might in the region.

Thus, the expressions of consent seem to be coming from the wrong corner. After all, Syria needs friends, not Europe – or so it seems.

With U.S. sanctions in force, Iraq crumbling beside it, and intermittent condemnations for human rights, freedom of expression and religion abuses by human-rights groups, Syria is not the West’s most prized ally.




On a different note, Euromed has grown since its inception, with youth and culture exchanges, a common tourism protocol and Europe engaged in bilateral free trade with almost all of the Mediterranean states.

Syria is the only Euromed country not engaged in a bilateral pact with Europe.

Europe’s role in the Middle East and North Africa has been overshadowed since a U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq. While many European states like Spain, Italy and the UK,
joined the coalition, the staunch opposition of countries like France and Germany has polarized foreign policy in the region.

In Israel, with U.S. President George W. Bush being very supportive of Ariel Sharon’s policies, the EU has become something of a lame duck. The demise of the Road Map is testament to this phenomenon.

As a result, the EU is looking for other spheres of influence.

Euromed is a convenient and promising forum; it is already successful and Europe’s close proximity to the non-European Mediterranean countries affords it an advantage over the U.S.

With Syria as its ally, the EU is looking to finalize its economic authority in the region.

By Melanie Takefman on Thursday, August 19, 2004

http://www.themedialine.org/news/new...sp?NewsID=7038

[parcifal]

Et alors?

[VlaamseBelg]

De VS mogen niet verwachten dat wij hun embargo's zomaar gaan volgen, anders moeten ze ons ook maar laten meestemmen in november. Misschien werkt samenwerken beter dan binnenvallen, ze kunnen nog wat leren van ons.