EU foreign ministers at Hluboká: Lisbon treaty a must for future enlargement of the bloc

The Czech EU presidency hosted an informal meeting of the bloc’s 27 foreign ministers over the weekend in Hluboká, south Bohemia. Although Czech officials went into the meeting with an ambitious agenda it was the Czech Republic’s own domestic crisis that inevitably drew the most attention. Just days after the fall of the country’s centre-right government EU foreign ministers sought reassurances regarding the Czech EU presidency and the fate of the Lisbon treaty.

Karel Schwarzenberg, photo: CTK

Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg welcomed his colleagues on Friday at Hluboká, a chateau which belonged to his family for nearly three centuries. The foreign ministers of all 27 member states gathered there to discuss key points on the EU’s foreign policy agenda – including the situation in the Middle East, stepping up assistance to Afghanistan, and the EU’s relations with Belarus and the Western Balkans. But another issue arose unexpectedly: the fall of the Czech government, which weakened the country’s EU presidency and cast doubt on the adoption of the Lisbon treaty. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said that the Czechs must get full support from the rest of the bloc until they hand the presidency over to Sweden in June.

“I think that it would be a disaster to go ahead with a weak presidency. We have to support the Czech presidency until the end of June. We do need a presidency capable of leading all the processes, and particularly to organize, as the Czech Republic is doing, the first summit between President Obama and the heads of states and governments of Europe.”

Estonia’s minister Urmas Paet said there was general concern about the strength of the Czech presidency, and the government’s commitment to push for the ratification of the EU’s reform document.

“The honest answers is yes of course, because the main issue here is when and how the Czech Republic will ratify the Lisbon treaty, so of course that there are concerns about what will now happen with the government but at the same time also how the Czech Republic will handle the issue of the Lisbon treaty.”

Javier Solana, photo: CTK

Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg said he appreciated the “remarkable solidarity” of his colleagues, but said their support was not needed at the moment as the government of PM Mirek Topolánek remained in place for the time being. Mr Schwarzenberg conceded that it would not be possible to go ahead with EU enlargement without the Lisbon treaty in force, and said that the Czech Republic would not be a hurdle in the process.

“This whole meeting here was to serve the noble aim of enlarging Europe. And I don’t think we are a hurdle, and I do think that – if you wish to allude to the ratification process [of the Lisbon treaty] – I am sure that it will be ratified in due time.”

Although the meeting of EU foreign misters produced no formal conclusions on any of these issues, some of them merited general consensus, while others will need further debate before a joint position is reached. In the Middle East, the EU is waiting for the new Israeli government to see whether the peace process can go ahead with new dynamics. The EU also welcomed a recent move by Syria, which sent its first ever ambassador to Lebanon last week. The EU’s foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

“Important events have also taken place in Syria. As you know, the exchange of ambassadors between Syria and Lebanon has taken place – a very important event. And from that we are going to draw our own conclusions. There will be elections in Lebanon, and it will be important to see how everybody behaves. Therefore, a lot of things have happened now, together with the fact that the new American administration is going to be much more engaged trying to finalize the peace process.”

Benita Ferrero-Waldner, photo: CTK

High on the agenda was also the prospect of countries from Eastern Europe and the western Balkans coming closer to the European Union and eventually becoming members. The Czech Republic has adopted the Eastern Partnership project as one of its presidency priorities, but the EU has yet to officially come up with a joint stance towards Belarus, a country ruled by the authoritarian regime of President Alexander Lukashenko. The European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner said it might be too early for a final decision on whether Belarus should be allowed to take part in the project.

“We would like to see Belarus as a member of the Eastern Partnership. This is what we had offered to them. Now there should be an initial summit, and that’s why it was important to have a first discussion on how far Belarus has already moved, what it means, and whether this is the right moment or not. I think it’s a little bit too early to decide today whether we shall invite ever ybody and in which way.”

On Saturday, the EU foreign ministers were joined by their colleagues from Croatia, Macedonia and Turkey. The Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn thanked the Czech presidency for bringing the Western Balkans back on the EU’s agenda. Mr Rehn said that the stabilization of the region ultimately meant that these countries would eventually be invited to join the EU.

“In the recent past we have had perhaps some relative political stability in the region, but certainly no end of history, no eternal peace yet. We will therefore need to continue our policy of stabilisation, which can also be called enlargement – this gradual process of enlargement of the European Union.”

Although no specific dates were discussed, Mr Rehn said that the EU would soon review its visa policy towards the Balkan states, and indicated that with some of them visa-free travel agreements could be in place before the end of this year.

Photo: CTK

“We will present a more thorough and profound report on this in the course of the spring. But I think it is fair to say that we should get concrete results and achieve visa-free travel with the countries that are most advanced before the end of 2009.”

The US president Barack Obama will visit Europe for the first time since his inauguration, and one of the stops on his European tour will include Prague, where he’ll attend an EU-US summit. One of the main issues on the agenda will be stepping up military and civilian assistance to Afghanistan. Karel Schwarzenberg said that at Hluboká, the EU’s foreign ministers had finalized the EU’s position towards one of the most troubled areas in the world.

“There will be a discussion with the United States at the summit in Prague exactly about this. The bulk of what is expected is in the civilian area, and that was what we discussed today – where we have the capabilities, be it in the police force, be it in the gendarmerie force, and what we can do in other areas.”

The Czech EU presidency will host the first summit between the new American president Barack Obama and the European Union in Prague on Sunday.