Bill Howard
Fri, 02 Feb 2001 11:49:00 -0800
----- Original Message ----- From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2001 3:15 PM Subject: More Divisions In NATO's Neue Welt Ordnung [STOPNATO.ORG.UK] STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Dial 800-555-TELL. Instant updates - One free call\nSports, stocks, driving directions...& much more! http://on.linkexchange.com/?ATID=27&AID=2142 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [Symbolic, indeed. Alsace-Lorraine. 1870. 1914. 2001? Things seem to shaping up that way with Germany and Turkey resolidifying their old alliance, Britain watching which way the cat jumps, and France naturally gravitating toward Russia. Watch the fireworks explode among the erstwhile 'peacekeepers.' It won't be long.] Tuesday, January 30 7:49 PM SGT French and German leaders stage patch-up summit in Strasbourg PARIS, Jan 30 (AFP) - The leaders of France and Germany have chosen a symbolic venue -- an exclusive country restaurant in the long-disputed border region of Alsace -- for talks Wednesday to patch up a relationship showing distinct signs of wear and tear. Poor personal chemistry, the strange double-headed nature of the French government, but above all the changing face of the European Union -- expanding soon to take in up to 13 new members -- have all put exceptional strain on an axis for decades seen as the continent's driving force. "One can certainly speak of a crisis. Franco-German relations have to be readjusted to take account of a European system which has changed," said Anne-Marie Le Gloannec, an expert at the Centre Marc Bloch, a Berlin think-tank. It was last month's EU summit at Nice that crystallised the divide. France, which chaired the summit, exasperated Germany with its insistence that the two countries' historic parity within the EU be maintained -- despite Germany's much larger post-unification population. But symbolically, it was Germany which by common consent emerged victorious, having pocketed concessions from France on a host of other issues and showing itself far more dexterous at operating in the looser system of alliances that Europe now represents. "Europe has become much more fluid. There are more players in the game, and their number will increase further. Which means there are many more possible link-ups," said Le Gloannec. In Berlin a German official said that in the past France and Germany had worked towards overcoming the legacy of past wars and "legitimizing German-French cooperation. But he acknowledged that this was no longer enough. Wednesday's meeting was agreed by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French leaders President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin in recognition of the fact that their traditional partnership needs, in Schroeder's words, to be "re-defined" for the new era. The problems are on different levels. On the one hand the personal relationship between Chirac and Schroeder has nothing of the warmth of the friendship between their predecessors Francois Mitterand and Helmut Kohl. The fact that France is run by two competing leaders -- Chirac and Jospin -- both with ill-defined ideas for the future of the EU is also, in German eyes, a major handicap for those seeking to map out a shared vision. But more deeply, France senses that the Germany of the 21st century is a country much less bound by its post-war conscience, and thus freer to dispense with the political cover France has till now afforded in its efforts to exert influence in Europe. As the EU expands eastward, France fears Germany will re-emerge as the continent's natural leader and its own privileged position will be undermined. Standing in the wings is Britain, whose Prime Minister Tony Blair had talks with Schroeder on Monday amid calls from the pro-European press to take advantage of the slowing Franco-German tandem to press for an enhanced role in Europe. "The chill in the Franco-German air means Britain has an opportunity to become involved in the debate on Europe's future, instead of playing the role of eternal grumbler," the Independent newspaper said Tuesday. According to the Financial Times, Blair's European instincts "are closer to Mr Chirac's inter-governmentalism than to Mr Schroeder's desire for closer EU integration. But he is politically and personally more in sympathy with the German chancellor. "He could yet prove to be the catalyst to keep the Franco-German partnership alive as the motor of EU development," it said. ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]