,,America's Trojan Ass"
BERLIN Germany and France are openly demanding that the states of eastern and south eastern Europe must be subject to their hegemony. This is their reaction to the support which these states have given to US foreign policy and is a reaction to Germany's bid for hegemony over them. A leading Berlin foreign policy think tank says in the meantime it is optimistic that Poland, the largest of the disaffected countries, can be ,,europeanised"in the middle to long term and cannot, in the long run, sustain its irrational position as America's ,,Trojan Ass".
The eastern and south eastern European states have aligned themselves with the USA and Great Britain in the Iraq conflict to cover their backs against the crudely obvious German attempt at hegemony. As an influential Polish foreign policy expert put it, ,,Whoever tries to make Europe a vehicle for his own national ambitions must reckon without the support of his neighbours". 1)
,,An opportunity to keep their mouths shut"
Berlin and Paris have reacted with massive pressure. The French President, Chirac, berated the south eastern and eastern European countries with words which can only be described as scandalous. It was ,,not well brought up"to support pro-American declarations, he said. ,,They had missed a good opportunity to keep their mouths shut". Chirac reinforced his remarks with the threat to hinder accession to the EU for ,,irresponsible states".
,,Another opportunity will not occur"
The views of German politicians are identical. A German diplomat in Warsaw said that he felt ,,he had simply had the piss taken"by sovereign European states which had dared to make a foreign policy decision without reference to Berlin. The German EU Commissar for enlargement declared threateningly ,,I do not believe there will be such an opportunity again"and sought to ,,advise"applicant EU members that ,,in basic foreign and security policy matters, the EU must be respected and supported".
,,Crude pro-Americanism"
In the meantime the Berlin Foundation for Science and Policy (SWP) has sought to play down the dispute. In a position paper, analysing Polish foreign policy, it points to the small economic influence of the USA on Poland. Of Poland's exports only around 3% go to the USA but 70% to the European Union. The SWP continues ,,Polands new potential of political life as an EU member and its fear of lossing influence in Europe through crude pro-Americanism will certainly assure that Poland will not continue on its irrational path as America's 'Trojan Ass'."
1) See earlier article ,,The Leadership Claims of a European Power"
Sources:
Amerikas bester Freund? Polens atlantizistisch-europäischer Kurs; SWP-aktuell 6/2003
EU-Kommissar versöhnlich zu Verhalten von EU-Kandidaten bei Irak; reuters 18.02.2003
Zwei Seelen in der Adlerbrust. Polen sucht nach der Standpauke von Jacques Chirac seinen Standort im neuen Europa; Frankfurter Rundschau 20.02.2003