Before the Spanish Presidency of the EU. New Challenges: Turkey and Serbia

Whether you are missing a few days (8 today) to Spain to Sweden to relieve the President of the European Union, there are some last-minute events will give more meaning to the role that our country has played in the Balkans over the past two decades.

In a future post I will give my personal view of the scope and meaning of work and proposals Moncloa been placed on the Agenda Institutional coming months, but today I want to focus on two issues that will undoubtedly have long-distance during the semester Spanish.

On the one hand, the bet that since the presidency of our Government has made to open talks with Turkey, in order to silence criticism from the lobbies of Islamic influence, that the EU is an exclusively Christian club. Often these voices seem to forget (or do not emphasize) the bulk of Muslim population living in the frontiers of Europe: Britain, Germany, France and Spain are home in your breast to millions of citizens from the countries of the Maghreb, and other areas Mashreck Islamic culture.

Turkey, certainly shares more social and democratic principles in any European country with its neighbors such as Iran, Syria or Jordan to name a few examples. And this is the question to be resolved, first among its population, and later of the European population. No doubt Turkey is a cultural tradition of Islam, as Spain is culturally Catholic and Protestant Sweden. But among these three countries are our democratic convictions which draws us more than our traditions of origin.

This must be an incentive for the Spanish Government, to accelerate measures to grow the understanding that if Turkey is a true example of integration in a context of Islamic secular democracy. It is certainly an opportunity, and a value, that Spain has to understand the other European partners and the European population in general. We have a great opportunity and we can not pass up.

On the other hand, Serbia becomes another candidate for integration, given that today it has formally requested membership in the Swedish EU Presidency. Boris Tadic, Serbian President, has met with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, for this purpose to normalize its relationship with the EU, as it did at the time Slovenia and Croatia do as claimed.

With this gesture, a double question arises: Close the recent traumatic past of the region, with the unfortunate war in the Balkans and other full integration in European integration, which effectively force them to sit on an equal footing with other countries that once were enemies. Remains to be seen what steps will in this regard the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Undoubtedly, the move by Tadic is of great political finesse. Knowing that Spain assumes the presidency in 2010, and given the good bilateral relations between our countries, especially the common position cum, before the non-recognition of the Republic of Kosovo (which once divided EU members, and which today remains a matter of debate) and other issues related to the approach of how to establish partnerships and strategies in the Balkans, is a step that will make a strong push from the beginning of the previous meetings to membership, though risky step from the standpoint of economic times.

We will have to be aware of the steps now, Serbia, in the context of the EU, especially regarding their positions and opinions with the rest of the former ex-Yugoslav republics and of course to the economic and social conditions must meet before the signing of accession.

We will monitor the views of the Spanish Presidency on Turkey and Serbia.

Tags: 2010 , Spain , Europe , Presidency , Serbia , Turkey , EU

Was This entry posted on 23/12/2009 at 23/12/2009 and is filed under European Union . Any dog you follow responses to this entry-through the RSS 2.0 feed.