EU top jobs
Donald Tusk, Federica Mogherini. Brussels, 30 August.

No power for no ambition

Published on 10 September 2014 at 12:33
Donald Tusk, Federica Mogherini. Brussels, 30 August.

Writing in Foreign Affairs, political scientist Lorinc Redei heavily criticises the newly appointed top EU-figures, European Council president Donald Tusk and EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini, saying they will be a “disaster”, and that European leaders “collectively rendered the European Union irrelevant to global affairs.”

Redei points out that “Tusk may be a talented politician”, but that he is an “exceedingly unlikely architect of continental consensus”:

Tusk is not known to be a skilled coalition-builder. Both of his governments in Poland relied on only one coalition partner in the lower house (and none in the Senate). His predecessor, Herman Van Rompuy, has had “decades of experience” in coalition building through the federalized politics in Belgium.

Adding that Tusk “speaks no French and has limited command of English”, Redei writes that —

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it is hard to believe that he could construct creative bargains among his former colleagues given all the trouble he’ll have simply communicating with them in a common language. The message in his appointment is clear: National leaders in Europe would prefer that no one push a distinctly European perspective that might get in the way of their lowest-common-denominator approach.

Meanwhile, the current Italian foreign minister, Federica Mogherini —

lacks two of the most essential characteristics to be an effective spokesperson for the EU’s foreign policy: executive and international stature. […] Mogherini has no background in the EU’s complex institutions. She has no first-hand experience in the tricky bureaucracy of the European External Action Service […] She has only been an elected politician for six years. Nor is she well-known outside Europe. […] Foreign governments are unlikely to take her seriously.

Additionally, the author judges the Council’s handling of the Ukraine crisis as poor and “hardly sufficient to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from further aggression.”

For Redei the latest EU summit shows that current leaders of EU member states–

are wary of filling top EU positions with high-profile political figures who could challenge their national interests in the name of a common European good. […] By appointing underwhelming personalities to important posts, European leaders are undermining their own ability to tackle the major challenges of our time, such as a resurgent and expansionist Russia.

He finally sais that the Summit was a “green light” for Russia to escalate the attacks on Ukraine, showing to the U.S. that the EU is not able to stand up to its responsibilities.

Alone, the EU’s member states lack power. Together, they lack ambition. And either way, Putin is about to take them for a ride.

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