04/08/2007
At first the release of the Bulgarian medics after eight years of
incarceration and torture by the Libyan government was greeted joyfully by all believers in the European project and the need for âEuropeâ to have a common foreign policy. Here is a wonderful example, they chortled, of âsoft powerâ that is sooooooooooo much more effective than the nasty hard power of the Americans.
An
article in Transitions Online, a largely Europhile site that deals with Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the former Soviet Union, breathes a sigh of relief at Europe finally showing willingness to work together and exert pressure as a single entity after a period of discord, what with arguments about Turkeyâs possible entry and those cheeky referendum results in France and the Netherlands.
As our readers undoubtedly expect, this blog does not precisely agree with that judgement. We are, as it happens, not alone.
Here is a longish piece that sums up the situation as it appears at this point.
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