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Well-Known Member
The UK will ask Greece, which currently holds the presidency of the EU, to convene a special emergency summit to discuss anti-Americanism and its impact on the Union’s projects.
According to the proposal the discussions are expected to centre on enlargement. "We must not allow anti-Americanism in some of Europe’s capitals to contaminate the construction of the European Union and its enlargement" read a statement from the UK foreign office.
According to reports in the International Herald Tribune all 15 members of the Union plus the 10 candidate countries will be asked to attend.
"I will be asking the Greek presidency [of the EU] to convene a meeting of European ministers from all 25 member states so that we can unite to stop those forces which are seeking to divide Europe still further and exclude existing and incoming member states from being full and equal partners in the EU," said Dennis MacShane UK minister for Europe.
It is not yet clear if the Greek presidency will accept the proposal. If it goes ahead the meeting may be crucial point in the fight for control over the future of the EU.
Veto
The announcement comes as relations between the UK and France hit a new low. London is frustrated by Paris' insistence that it will use its UN veto powers to block any new resolution threatening the use of force against Iraq.
On Thursday, France immediately rejected a UK proposal to set six tests for Iraqi disarmament. The French reaction was seen in London as an attempt to pull apart the UK and US and so leave the UK isolated, treading water in the mid-Atlantic.
It is widely believed that the US is just accommodating the UK in its frantic moves to try and get a second resolution through the UN. This is something Tony Blair, the US's faithful ally on the whole Iraq issue, is desperate to get for his own political standing at home. He has staked his political reputation on using the UN route through which to disarm Iraq.
The US has been more equivocal on the matter. Yesterday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell indicated that Washington might not wait for a second resolution to go to war.
http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?sid=9&aid=10547
According to the proposal the discussions are expected to centre on enlargement. "We must not allow anti-Americanism in some of Europe’s capitals to contaminate the construction of the European Union and its enlargement" read a statement from the UK foreign office.
According to reports in the International Herald Tribune all 15 members of the Union plus the 10 candidate countries will be asked to attend.
"I will be asking the Greek presidency [of the EU] to convene a meeting of European ministers from all 25 member states so that we can unite to stop those forces which are seeking to divide Europe still further and exclude existing and incoming member states from being full and equal partners in the EU," said Dennis MacShane UK minister for Europe.
It is not yet clear if the Greek presidency will accept the proposal. If it goes ahead the meeting may be crucial point in the fight for control over the future of the EU.
Veto
The announcement comes as relations between the UK and France hit a new low. London is frustrated by Paris' insistence that it will use its UN veto powers to block any new resolution threatening the use of force against Iraq.
On Thursday, France immediately rejected a UK proposal to set six tests for Iraqi disarmament. The French reaction was seen in London as an attempt to pull apart the UK and US and so leave the UK isolated, treading water in the mid-Atlantic.
It is widely believed that the US is just accommodating the UK in its frantic moves to try and get a second resolution through the UN. This is something Tony Blair, the US's faithful ally on the whole Iraq issue, is desperate to get for his own political standing at home. He has staked his political reputation on using the UN route through which to disarm Iraq.
The US has been more equivocal on the matter. Yesterday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell indicated that Washington might not wait for a second resolution to go to war.
http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?sid=9&aid=10547
