Greece fears presidency will be overshadowed by war against Saddam

Date: 19/12/02

By David Cronin

US MILITARY action against Iraq would slow down the rate at which EU decisions are taken, the incoming Greek presidency fears.

Tassos Giannitsis, Greece's minister for European affairs, said a war against Saddam Hussein could "overshadow our work as presidency".

He predicted it would create a climate of uncertainty, making EU governments reluctant to grasp the nettle on difficult dossiers.

If Baghdad is bombed, he said, Athens would "have to play a big role so that the Union can appear internally coherent and ensure its profile is not dispersed among 15 different views".

The six-month Greek presidency, which starts on 1 January, wishes to improve EU ties with Russia following clashes between Moscow and the outgoing Danish presidency over Chechnya. Giannitsis told European Voice it would be difficult to find a balance between keeping relations cordial and raising concerns about the heavy-handed tactics of Russian troops in the breakaway republic.

"On the one side, it's obvious relations with Russia are very important," he said. "On the other side, Europe is a continent where the respect of human rights is at the top of our values and policies."

Greece is hoping a breakthrough on uniting Cyprus can be achieved by 28 February, a UN deadline agreed with both Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders.

Yet there appeared to be a setback yesterday (18 December), when Turkey's foreign ministry issued a statement claiming that last weekend's EU summit decision, that Greek Cyprus could be admitted to the Union without the consent of the Turkish Cypriot administration, ran counter to international law.

Protestors in Cyprus' Turkish enclave have complained over the past week about their leader Rauf Denktash's refusal to endorse the UN blueprint for ending the island's division.

According to Giannitsis, their demonstrations suggest most Turkish Cypriots are against the intransigent stance taken by Denktash.

Giannitsis added that Athens believed the Union should consider how its foreign policy - now subject to unanimous decisions by EU governments - could become more flexible.

This question is being considered by the Convention on the future of the EU, which is due to present a draft treaty to EU leaders at their summit in Thessaloniki next June.

Tassos Giannitsis, Greece's minister for European affairs, fears that US military action against Iraq would slow down the rate at which EU decisions are taken, and overshadow the work of the Greek EU presidency, which starts on 1 January 2003.