Dear friends, good day!
The diminished geopolitical significance of the European Union relative to states of comparable economic weight is evident and a well-documented fact. The war in Ukraine is, perhaps, the most striking example of this.
Despite the steps taken in recent years, the absence of a unified foreign and, of course, defense policy still creates conditions under which the famous saying “who should I call when I want to speak to Europe?” attributed to H. Kissinger.
Nevertheless, the EU continues to surprise with the extent of its timid reactions and the absence of substantive policy direction even in cases of “low-level” crises, a fact with far-reaching consequences.
Just this week, on Sunday evening, the 7th of this month, the aircraft carrying the defense ministers of three EU member states—Greece, France, and the Netherlands—who were traveling to Cyprus to participate in an informal meeting with their counterparts the following day, were harassed via radio by the illegal control tower at Tympou Airport in the occupied territories.
At the same time, two Turkish fighter jets were spotted at a relatively short distance, though they did not become directly involved in the incident.
During the EU Council meeting the following day, Greek Minister of National Defense Nikos Dendias, officially briefed his counterparts on the incident—including, of course, his counterparts from France and the Netherlands—a fact he publicized after the conclusion of the meeting on the “X” platform.
After all this, what was the reaction of the “Commission,” that is, the EU’s executive branch? “We will investigate exactly what happened and, of course, we will be in contact with our counterparts in Cyprus.”
But what does this kind of “lax” reaction actually mean in practice?
First, that the Commission itself refuses to take as fact—and thus disputes— the statements of the Greek Minister of Defense and, of course, those of the French and Dutch Ministers of Defense, who have never denied the testimony of their Greek counterpart.
Second, that the Commission, and by extension the EU, to the extent that it serves as its executive arm and mouthpiece, shows a complete lack of will to confront Turkey, even though Turkey is engaging in clearly hostile acts against EU member states.
Although the incident is attributed to Turkey’s desire to present the pseudo-state of the Turkish Cypriots as a sovereign entity—no country in the world, except Turkey, recognizes it—the hostile nature of the incident is clear.
It should be noted, however, that while Turkey remains, in theory, a candidate for EU membership, it simultaneously occupies approximately 37% of the Republic of Cyprus—that is, another member state—illegally and threatens yet another member state, Greece, should the latter exercise its sovereign rights to extend its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles in the Aegean.
“All of this,” however, lacks any sense of seriousness. They’re harassing the defense ministers of three member states, one of whom formally complains to his counterparts, and the Commission comes out to say “we’ll look into it,” instead of proceeding, at the very least, to condemn the incident or take other measures?
What will it “look into” and how will it “look into” it? And ultimately, why inform only the Cypriot authorities? Is the issue purely Cypriot when the convening of an EU ministerial meeting on the island is being obstructed? Does it concern only Cyprus or the entire EU? Because, if that is the case, let us not “delude ourselves” with grand rhetoric about “European borders” and the like.
In light of all this, who would take the EU seriously, and why?
A loose economic entity that for decades has entrusted its defense security to NATO—that is, the U.S.—and its energy security to Russia—that is, its supposed “adversary.” Even now, it hesitates to move with the necessary speed toward creating a European army.
These are no trivial matters, and the late Kissinger was right to have been mocking Europe for so many years.