Chirac Comments Send A Jolt Through EU

Wednesday's trip to Poland was a routine matter for Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen, part of a series of visits Irish leaders are making to current and future European Union members.

But the visit gained new meaning after French President Jacques Chirac admonished incoming members of the Union for failing to "keep quiet" in the international squabble with the U.S. government over a possible war against Iraq and after his defense minister turned a routine news conference into a lecture hall where she admonished Poland for "pouring oil on the fire" by supporting President George W. Bush.

Since he was in Warsaw, Cowen decided to discuss the European dispute as well. After meeting with Polish Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, Cowen made his position clear. "We think that all means must be used to find a peaceful solution to this conflict but also that nations must show unity and support for the United States given the dangerous regime in Iraq," he said.

Other politicians used stronger words to express their dissatisfaction with Chirac. Chris Patten, the European commissioner for external relations, said the new nations were not joining the Warsaw Pact, the dead Soviet alliance to which many of them once belonged. They are actually joining "a club for equals and everyone has to be listened to," Patten said.

Günter Verheugen, the commissioner responsible for EU expansion, also criticized Chirac. "There can be no rule of silence," Verheugen said in an interview published on Wednesday in the newspaper Die Welt.

The argument over Chirac's comments was the latest dispute to arise over the possible U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, a matter that France and Germany are working to stop. Chirac made his comments late Monday after the 15 leaders of the European Union were finally able to end a public dispute over the question by issuing a compromise statement in which they said that "force should be used only as a last resort" and that U.N. inspectors needed more time to search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Afterward, Chirac criticized some of the 10 countries that are to join the EU in the first wave of expansion in 2004 for their support of Bush. "It is not really responsible behavior. They missed a good opportunity to keep quiet," Chirac said. Three of these countries in the group are Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. These three were among eight European countries that published an open declaration of support for the United States last month.

Chirac also directed his criticism at Romania and Bulgaria, two countries that are set to gain EU membership in the second wave of expansion. "If they wanted to lessen their chances of joining Europe, then they could not have found a better way," Chirac said.

On Tuesday, Chirac's defense minister, Michele Aillot-Marie, expressed her displeasure with Poland during a news conference she held with Poland's defense minister, Jerzy Szmajdzinski, and a high-ranking German defense official, Walter Kolbow.

"I think," Aillot-Marie said, "that one can expect the countries that want to join the European Union to maintain a certain circumspection and neutrality. Outsiders should never pour oil on the fire."

In response, Szmajdzinski suggested that politicians should watch their words. "When too many words are said, it is difficult later on to take back these words," he said. "That should be taken in mind in all political statements."

Gerd Langguth, a professor at the University in Bonn, suggested in an interview with DW-WORLD that the Poles had good reason to be upset. Chirac "really broke with the tradition" of the EU in his statements, Langguth said. Under this tradition, the European Union strives to maintain a balance, considering the interests of the big, like Germany, and the small, like Luxembourg. "I think French diplomats will soon be making an effort to make good," Langguth said.

Chirac directed his criticism at a group that will eventually become France's potential political rivals as the European Union expands from 15 members to more than 25 members. "With expansion, France's role will be reduced," Langguth said. "France will be pushed to the edge."

Joanna Apap of the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels put the dispute in a historical perspective. By supporting the United States, Apap said, the eastern Europeans are also responding to their ingrained "view of liberty," a view that was shaped during the Cold War when these countries were part of the Warsaw Pact.

By speaking out, Chirac may have been trying to teach them a lesson, Apap said in an interview with DW-WORLD. "He was urging them to conform to the EU and not follow the USA too fast," she said.

In the newspaper interview, Verheugen also put the eastern European support into a historic perspective. Several member candidates "have told me that earlier the Soviet Union dictated the course," he said. "And now the EU tells us what we should think and say."

At the same time, he expressed his understanding for Chirac's comments. "Chirac expressed a disappointment that many people in Brussels and elsewhere share," he said.