We won't shut up, Mr Chirac, says East Europe

Reuters | 2/18/03 | Sean Maguire

[kattracks]

WARSAW, Feb 18 (Reuters) - East European politicians accused French President Jacques Chirac on Tuesday of bully-boy tactics and rejected his demand to mute their strong backing for U.S. policy on Iraq.

"France has a right to its opinion and Poland has the right to decide what is good for it. France should respect that," Poland's deputy foreign minister Adam Rotfeld told public radio. "I would prefer if he expressed himself more politely."

"That's the way it seems," said Czech deputy foreign minister Alexandr Vondr when asked if Chirac was bullying the future EU countries.

Chirac on Monday lambasted east European states on track to join the European Union, saying they had been ill-behaved in backing Washington's determination to disarm Iraq, by force if necessary, and had missed "a great opportunity to shut up."

France's outburst will underline suspicions among the eight ex-communist states due to join the European Union next year that Paris expects them to show humble gratitude for being granted membership and wants them to accept French primacy in the bloc.

The clash will exacerbate tensions across Europe between France and Germany, which are leading opposition to U.S. policy, and states like Britain, Italy, Spain and the East Europeans who have joined to back Washington's tough stance on Baghdad.

One East European diplomat said Chirac had spoken in a tone that not even the Soviet Union would have used with its Warsaw Pact clients during its 40 year dominance of the region.

Former communist states have long been grateful to Washington for helping them throw off Moscow's dominance and for sponsoring their NATO entry drives. They had no qualms about openly backing the U.S. on Iraq, irritating Paris and Berlin.

MEMBERSHIP RISKS

Politicians said they found it particularly unsettling that France appeared to be threatening candidate states who have yet to receive entry invites and telling members-in-waiting that they were not partners but supplicants still outside the family.

Chirac also suggested enlargement might be delayed if even one of the referendums on EU entry due in candidate states in the coming months were to deliver a "No" vote.

His outburst will give ammunition to EU opponents in eastern Europe who argue they risk surrendering a liberty recently regained from Moscow to a bloc that will ignore their interests.

The candidates were irritated that current EU president Greece refused British and Spanish entreaties to invite them to Monday's EU emergency summit on Iraq, saying it showed they were not being taken seriously by some European states.

They were invited instead to a Tuesday briefing in Brussels, a substitute that many complained showed EU heavyweights France and Germany had not yet taken on board how Europe's centre of gravity will shift when its expands eastwards in 2004.

Bulgaria and Romania were told by Chirac they had put their chances of EU entry in 2007 at risk. Both have offered troops, bases and entry to their air space to the United States and Sofia has used its current Security Council seat to back Washington.

"I am surprised to find a connection being made between positions on Iraq and membership talks with the EU. Entry talks are held under strictly set rules announced in advance," complained European Integration Minister Meglena Kuneva.

Other states complained that Chirac was being unfair in criticising former Warsaw Pact states for a lack of solidarity with Europe when the European Union itself was deeply riven over Iraq.

"The EU candidates had no chance to have the same stance as the EU, because the Union itself had not agreed on a common position until yesterday," said Boris Gandel, Slovak Foreign Ministry spokesman. ((Reporting by Reuters bureau, writing by Sean Maguire,

[keats5]

"We have a dictator who has GASSED his own people to death, including women and children...they dropped where they stood, as he experimented with this weapons, using them for test animals. He has invaded a neighbor attempting to take over Middle East oil, then set the oil fields ablaze has he exited (that should have been enough to trigger the liberal envoirnmentalists to call for his head...never mind those women and children gassed to death, now the low life has killed some birds and put toxic smoke into the air...oh the horror)."

And then there's the time he tried to assassinate our first President Bush.

[The Toad]

I feel concerned for the Austrailians, expecially after the gov there disarmed the law-abiding citizens.

[babaloo]

Thank you for the links. Supporting friends is as important as boycotting weasels.

[jimtorr]

"donbernd"........That account has been banned. I wonder why?

[StriperSniper]

Reuters version:

and had missed "a great opportunity to shut up."

AP version:

Chirac said. "It is not well brought up behavior. They missed a good opportunity to keep quiet."

Is it just different translations? Anybody know? I don't know if Chirac's original comments were in English or French.

[Renfield]

Czeska Zbrojovka ("CZ"), the arms manufacturer in Brno, Czeck Republic, makes GREAT guns--rimfire and centerfire rifles, auto pistols, and O/U shotguns. Their CZ 75-85 series of pistols are what I consider to be the best designs of auto pistols anywhere, and I intend to start a collection of them, as my pocketbook allows. They are priced at about 2/3 of what comparable pistols made in Germany, France, or the USA would bring, which makes them that much more attractive.

[Renfield]

Czeska Zbrojovka ("CZ"), the arms manufacturer in Brno, Czech Republic, makes GREAT guns--rimfire and centerfire rifles, auto pistols, and O/U shotguns. Their CZ 75-85 series of pistols are what I consider to be the best designs of auto pistols anywhere, and I intend to start a collection of them, as my pocketbook allows. They are priced at about 2/3 of what comparable pistols made in Germany, France, or the USA would bring, which makes them that much more attractive.

[concerned about politics]

"donbernd"........That account has been banned. I wonder why?

Sometimes it's good to have a socialist or communist show up every now and then. It reminds us of the low IQ we're being forced to deal with.
There's useful idiots like this one out in droves - like satans minions - and we know it isn't because of peace. It's because we have a president who supports a free republic. They dispise freedom the same way we dispise communism.
Every troll is a rally call to be even more active in the war against leftist oppression. Know your enemy.

[ohioman]

If you hate "US" so much for being a "Bully" then by all means take your sorry ass to France.

[irish_links]

....Certainly Ireland doesn't want in, and a lot of the Brits don't....

Although many Irish have caught the Euro-lefty disease, sad to say, the position of the Ahern administration is mildly pro-U.S. Ahern has stated that the Republic is likely to support a U.S./U.K. initiative in Iraq, although Eire would like to see a U.N. resolution before it formally takes that step.

As a "neutral" country, the Republic is very much into multilateralism and tends toward a naive pacificism. Give credit, however, where credit is due. Unlike the French and Germans, the Irish trully believe in the U.N./Multilateral approach. They are not reflexively anti-American. Eire has nothing to gain and everything to lose by annoying the U.S. government and Americans, whose tourist dollars and high tech investments are essential ingedients to Eire's current prosperity. If, in the end, they oppose us, which is unlikely, it will be from sincere belief, not opportunism.

[Highest Authority]

Your non-use of caps for USA and America are very telling!!!!!!!!!!!

[legman]

but if you knew so much about the world then please give me a hint and tell me which democratic movement the usa has supported within hte last 30 years ?

South Africa is the most prominent answer.

Now you name one democracy that was formed in the last 30 years without U.S. support.

[Teacher317]

During that WW2 build-up, there was also a nation that had lost a previous war, was rebuilding its military in violation of world-body resolutions, was keeping weapons inspectors frustrated in their search attempts, was eager to destroy its unpopular minorities, attacked its neighbors repeatedly, tortured and killed political dissidents, and sought WMD's.

Germany mirrors Iraq today, not the US, friend.

Just because Germans used the boycott for an evil purpose does not imply that all boycotts are evil... or should we give up on having a diverse population, since the Nazis abused theirs as well? Also, is the boycott against Cuba (that Democrats from Kennedy to Clinton kept alive, even with two Democrat-controlled Houses of Congress) also evil, racist, or whatever else you're attempting to imply?

[philosofy123]

So now President Chirac is a terrorist? Control yourself. We have enough firing power to take over Iraq in one week. France and Germany are sovereign states, they can stand on the side or even protest this war, but that does not mean that they are terrorists.

[legman]

France and Germany are sovereign states, they can stand on the side or even protest this war, but that does not mean that they are terrorists.

I believe he may have been alluding to President Bush's statement that countries are either with us or against us in the war on terror. But I think you are right here. While we can disagree and show our disdain with the way we spend our money, they have the right to be wrong. We can't stoop to their level.

[linton59]

"All the best coffee-house intellectuals aspire to be dictators, and vice-versa." Great statement. May I quote you?

[Ches]

Sleep well, Poland. You are not under the protection of France.

[Barney Gumble]

Ireland doesn't want it because the EU is a big socialist beaurocracy. Ireland has been enjoying a much better economy than most of 'old Europe' becuase they have economic freedom. The price of gas in the EU is about $4-5/gallon. That's not because it's harder to get there. It's all taxes. Some people in Eastern Europe want to stay out of the EU because they will become satellite states having to defer opinion to France.

As much as people like to complain about the economy here, it's not all that bad. Unemployment is only at 6%. France is around 12% and has been for a while.

[SeeRushToldU_So]

Chiraq is a pompous idiot that is making his smelly country truly irrelevant.

[DB]

We haven't threatened to not let new members into NATO if they don't support us on Iraq.

Chirac isn't simply disagreeing with us, he's actively blocking us at great expense to us. All this while he wasn't even asked to do anything for the Iraqi effort in the first place.

Chirac has bitten off far more than he can chew…