The FINANCIAL — “Georgia’s territorial problem cannot be solved without constructive cooperation with Russia. We will never give up the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia,” these were the main messages of Mr. Günter Verheugen, former EU Commissioner to Russia.
Mr. Verheugen served as European Commissioner for Enlargement from 1999 to 2004 and then as European Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry from 2004 to 2010. Last week he met members of the Georgian Government and joined a round table on foreign relations and geopolitical issues.
“Putin builds dividing lines, which is unacceptable in the XXI century,” said Verheugen.
“I remember Reagan’s words, which he told to Gorbachev. At the present time, it is Putin who is building the dividing lines. Europe must do everything in order to allow constructive dialogue. Russia should recognize Georgia’s independence and territorial integrity and should de-occupy Georgia. What is happening today is not the Europe to which we aspire. Such actions of Russia’s are unacceptable in the XXI century,” he said.
“We should be realistic. The EU is not the problem here. And Georgia is not the problem. The problem is Russia. We cannot find the solution to this territorial problem without constructive cooperation with Russia. At this time it is important that the EU makes it absolutely clear that the Union firmly intends and defends two basic principles of territorial integrity of every European state, and Georgia is a European state, and has national sovereignty. Russia must understand that we will never negotiate these principles. Eventually there is a need to review the EU-Russia policy with the aim to engage Russia better, more successfully, to find solutions for different regional conflicts,” Verheugen told The FINANCIAL.
In the case of Ukraine, the fact that the EU did not lead a discussion with Russia was one of the EU’s mistakes.
“The EU must see that the mishandling of the AA and FTA triggered events which are not under our control. The mismanagement was that Ukraine was not given a clear perspective. The mismanagement was that there was never a discussion with Russia about what consequences this agreement would have for Russia and how we could find common solutions. The EU never really analyzed the economic situation of the country and underestimated the catastrophic situation there, and finally and most importantly, the EU presented new conditions when the agreement was already initialed and one of these conditions could not be met by Mr. Yanukovich, the release of Yulia Timoshenko. You should not initial or sign an agreement if you have not already seen on the table what you want to negotiate.”
There are some western countries that are against the EU enlargement to the east. They just did not like the idea of Ukraine joining the UE. “We have political circles in Europe that never liked the eastern enlargement. Never. They did not like the accession of Poland, the accession of the Czech Republic and absolutely did not like the accession of Romania, Bulgaria, and Croatia, for reasons which in my view are totally populist and politically irresponsible. You have them even in the governments of the European Union. This is a selfish position, shows a lack of solidarity and a lack of historical understanding of the needs and the future of Europe.”
“For the time being the enlargement policy is not very popular in the European Union. For a couple of years the enlargement has been a scapegoat for everything that has gone wrong, for some (right) circles in the EU. Actually, of course, the new member states have nothing to do with the crisis that we have in Europe. It did not originate there, neither economically nor politically. It originated in some old member states. And the new member states are clearly the victims of, and not those who created, the crisis,” said Verheugen.
The Commissioner did not mention specific countries. “You have those political groups everywhere in the EU. In some countries they are more strong, in some countries less,” he said.
Verheugen estimated the AA to be important for Georgia as it does not have a choice. “You cannot choose the customs union with Russia for peace reasons. The choice of Georgia has to be EU integration, and the AA is an extremely important step. I would prefer to have an additional element, which should be a clear commitment from the side of the EU that it is in the interests of the Union to accept Georgia as its member and actively support it.”
In his words, the ongoing situation in Ukraine could become a new impetus for the European perspective of Georgia and Moldova.
“The situation is interesting for Moldova and Georgia. The EU cannot afford to lose these two countries also, if it will end up losing Ukraine. These circumstances are the basis for thinking about how to use this moment to make the decision-making more efficient,” said Verheugen.
He added that the European Union may propose an acceleration of a visa-free regime with Georgia or make an open declaration claiming that Georgia not only can but will become an EU member.
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