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Home arrow newsitems arrow EU asks Turkey: don't hinder Greece+Cyprus to pay Debts +by their Gas-Oil based on UN Law of the Sea

EU asks Turkey: don't hinder Greece+Cyprus to pay Debts +by their Gas-Oil based on UN Law of the Sea

Written by ACM
Friday, 14 December 2012

 

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*Brussels/EU Summit/Angelo Marcopolo/
- In surprisingly coordinated, parallel and topical moves, EU Summit's  27 European, Heads of State/Government practically urged Turkey to stop hindering EU Member States Greece and Cyprus to pay off heavy Sovereign Debts and boost much needed economic Growth, also by using fast enough their Oil/Gas Natural Resources, estimated at several Trillions € in growing findings all along the Aegean Sea's islands and Cyprus' South-Eastern Coasts, according to the well establlished International Law of the Sea, whose 30th Anniversary was celebrated officially by the UNO earlier this same week at New York.
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 - The European Union expressed "Serious Concern, and urged Turkey to avoid any kind of Threat or action directed against a(n EU) Member State, or source of friction or actions, which could Damage good Neighbourly relations and the Peaceful settlement of disputes", underlined the relevant official EU declaration.


    - In this regard, "EU stressed ...all the sovereign rights of EU Member States, which include, inter alia, entering into bilateral agreements, and to explore and exploit their natural resources, in accordance with the EU acquis and international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea".
    
    - "In this context", the December 2012 EU Summit underlined thet "Turkey needs to commit itself unequivocally to good neighbourly relations and to the peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with the United Nations Charter, having recourse, if necessary, to the International Court of Justice".


    This is "in line with the (EU-Turkey, open-ended) Negotiating Framework and previous European Council and Council conclusions", EU Leaders reiterated.
    
    The move was Unanimously made by the 27 EU Heads of States/Governments meeting these 2 Days in Brussels, who officially approved and endorsed a Draft prepared by their Foreign Ministers earlier this week, as confirm the Final Conclusions of the December 2012 EU Summit.

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+ Meanwhile, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, acting as a “Constitution ...”, ... of Maritime affairs", "Guided every aspect" of them,  "and set out a delicate balance of rights and duties",  UNO Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared, earlier this same week (12/2012) at N.Y,  as UNO's General Assembly celebrated the 30th Anniversary of the opening for signature of the nearly Universal Treaty :


- “Indeed, the treaty was a firm foundation — a permanent document providing order, stability, predictability and security — all based on the rule of law,” UNO's Secretary-General reportedly said, opening the commemorative meeting, which heard from nearly 40 Speakers and featured a video presentation on the History of the Convention (1982-2012).

 Ban Ki Moon hailed the International Treaty on the Law of the Sea as a testament to the power of international cooperation, multilateral negotiation and consensus-building, and said that with 164 States parties, it was nearing the goal of Universality.
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Nevertheless, Turkey still remains one of the few States practically refusing to recognize the International Law of the Sea, as it's set up in UNO's-celebrated, 30 Years-old Treaty (1982-2012), despite even of several formal Calls by the PanEuropean CoE from Strasbourg to support UNO's stance on how to peacefully settle, on the base of Internationaly recognized, General Principles, any eventual dispute of Sea Law.


Moreover, Turkey has notoriously threatened Greece with a Military Aggression if Athens dares use its Legal Right under UNO-sponsored International Treaty on the Law of the Sea, by extending its exclusive economic zone up to the Agean Greek Islands' shelf, where Geologists estimate the existence of valuable Oil/Gas Resources as long as since the 1970ies... Thus, Ankara practically imposed unilateraly a .. 40 Years "Freeze" (1970-2010+) of Greece's Natural Resources, (as it's also vainly attempting more recently to also vis a vis Cyprus, current EU Chair for July-December 2012, by various harassments and threats against Nicosia Government's sovereign Right for peaceful International Cooperation in order to explore and exploit its exclusive Economic 2one's Oil/Gas a.o. resources).


This has now started to become obviously scandalous and dangerously counter-productive, directly against Europe's General Interest, since €uroArea has been notoriously threatened by the exploitation of the Greek State sovereign Debt's growing Bank costs, which exploded after the USA-imported 2009 Global Crisis, aggravating the consequences of mis-management in the Past 30years (1981-2011), particularly of some former PASOK Governments, which used some Former "Socialist" EU leaders' complicity, back on 1999-2001, in order to "hide" the growing Debt, and thus practically escape from otherwise necessary Public Sector's Structural Reforms, maintaining a disproportionate number of unproductive cushy job holders, political lackeys, corrupted and/or otherwise criminal and/or "simply" ambusive and unpopular Civil Servants, previously appointed by former Clientelist/Nepotist Governements of the Past. That complicity was based on the simultaneous acceptance, by that same former PASOK Government, of Turkey's controversial and unpopular EU bid back on December 1999's Helsinki EU Summit, which provoked the notorious 2 "NO" to EuroReferenda on EU Constitution between 2005-2007 and an unprecedented, sharply rising Abstention Majority in EU Parliament's Elections mainly between 1999-2004, except just a deceleration in 2009, with consequence to "Block" and delay EU's institutional developments for too long. Until Sarkozy-Merkel succeeded to partically unblock the situation by refusing Turkey's EU entry and adopting Lisbon Treaty's minimal but much needed Institutional Innovations (2010), that EU Member States are just starting recently to use in order to boost EU Integration, (f.ex. by the creation of EU Patent, progress towards EU's "Autonomous" Security and Defence policy, etc).

The Succesful outcome, this week in Brussels, of EuroGroup's decisions on a Financial solution on the Debt provoked against Greece, which was naturally welcomed and hailed by all EU Leaders gathered here for the December 2012 EU Summit, at least partly depends, however, also from the conditions set up by the IMF, which clearly stressed, with a statement  of its Director, Christine Lagarde, yesterday at Washington DC., f.ex. that the Greek State must succeed, from 2013, to return to a Budget "without primary Deficit".


Something which apparently could only be done either by a radical Anti-Bureaucratic change, f.ex. by Firing and/or imposing Sanctions to all scandalously appointed by former Clientelist-Nepotist Governments, mainly of PASOK, counter-productive, abusive and unpopular cushy job holders and/or political lackeys, often corrupted or even otherwise criminal, etc., during 30 years (1981-2011),


- and/or by simply starting to boost much needed Growth thanks also to the Aegean Sea's Oil/Gas Resources in order to rapidly pay off all the Debts of the Past, (which, otherwise, threaten to keep EU Member Greece constantly under the pressure of a 120% Deficit each Year up to 2020+, which has already Sabotaged Productive Businesses and imposed Tragic Cuts upon suffering Poor People, (See relevant, earlier "EuroFora" NewsReports between 2009-2012).


For the moment, it's only the 3 Political Parties elected on 2012 at the Center-Right side of the political spectrum : New Democracy, of Prime Minister Samaras, "Independent Greeks" (dissidents coming from his Party ND), and "Golden Dawn", (Rightists), who have, more or less explicitly urged to use EU Member Greece's Right to apply the International Law of the Sea in order to pay-off all or most Debts of the Past, (while also adding their voices even to a widely popular "Anti-Corruption" campaign vis a vis Public Sector's counter-productive cushy job holders, political lackeys and other such corrupted and/or criminal appointees of Clientelist and/or Nepotist former Governments of the Past. But, at least for the time being, Prime Minister Samaras ("New Democracy") has been pushed into another governemental coalition with the remnants of PASOK and a small Leftist Party, which are opposed to such decisive Structural Reforms of the Public Sector, but keep a rather "flip-flop" stance on the issue of Aegean Sea's Natural Resources and International Law of the Sea (Comp.supra), while their popular basis are fluctuating on the prospect for Greece to eventually do ...like Norway, (which has notoriously benefited a lot from Oil/Gas findings at the Northern Sea).


=> In consequence, (and always according to political and other developments), an apparently secondary but in fact very important, Political Change in Greece's governing coalition, might offfer (if adequately prepared, but resolutely realized) a better, and more efficient/sustainable solution.

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(NDLR : "FlashNews", ie. a Brief version of a "DraftNews" already sent, earlier, to "EuroFora"s Subscribers/Donors. A more accurate, full Final Version might be published asap).

 

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    EU Rapporteur on Enlargment Strategy, maistream German MEP Elmar Brok, speaking to "EuroFora", welcomed the proposal made earlier this week by French President Nicolas Sarkozy for the EU to"start Now Talks with Turkey to create a common Economic and Security area", instead of full Accession, at a period when Ankara looks more and more unfit and/or unwilling to respect EU conditions.

    - "For Europe to have strong Political will, it must stop dilutiing itself in an endless Enlargement. It must have borders...Diversities enrich, on the condition that they don't undermine European Cohesion, and don't weaken EU Unity", Sarkozy stressed.
    
    - "Countries like Turkey share a part of common destiny with Europe, with which they have a vocation to build a Privileged Relation, to be closely associated, but not to become Member of the EU"  : "Noone respects his friends by telling them lies. Noone respects his friends by making them promises that will be never kept", he added.

    That's why "we'd better start, from now, negotiating with Turkey to create a common Economic and Security area", Sarkozy proposed.

Significantly, the French President was repeatedly and largely applauded by EU citizens, 3 times, when he made the Turkey point, (strategically placed between Europe's "Political Will" and its cultural heritage, historically open to mutually enriching dialogue with all the World, but never diluted).

    - "We could propose such a great ambition also to Russia, which must not be percieved as an Adversary of Europe, but as a Partner. Thus, we'd create a wide area, of more than 800 Million inhabitants, sharing the same Security, the same Prosperity", he concluded.

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    Sarkozy's move was anounced at the eve of a Franco-German Top meeting with Chancellor Angie Merkel in Berlin on Sunday, to jointly launch the EU Elections campain, after an EU Summit at nearby Prague, to launch a new kind of relations, called "Eastern Partnership", with neighboring countries such as Urkaine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaidjan, etc, (to which Russia, reportedly, is not - and does not want to be - included).

    As for Ukraine, which has already expressed her wish to join the EU in future, "Kiev will have a special place, and a very important role to play", replied earlier this week in Strasbourg, to an "EuroFora" question EU Chairman in office , Czech vice-Prime Minister Alexander Vodra.

    - "This direction is more Realistic for Turkey than Accession negotiations", reacted immediately EU Parliament's Rapporteur for Enlargment Strategy, mainstream German MEP Elmar Brok, commenting Sarkozy's idea for "EuroFora"

     Particularly "as far as it concerns the respect of EU Rules by both sides", he added, hinting at Turkey's now obvious inability and/or unwillingness to abide with EU Acquis, EU Commitments (fex. on Cyprus, etc), and European Democracy/Human Rights rules. (Comp. infra).

    Brok added that, in his view, a similar proposal might be made also to Ukraine and other neighbouring Countries, regardless if they have, or not, a "European vocation". This would not necessarily mean that there couldn't be any accession prospects at all." for all the countries that might be included in this area, according to Brok.  But it's preferable, particularly for Turkey, "because it's a more Realistic approach than full Membership".

    On this point, Sarkozy's proposal, (which he'll share with German Chancellor Merkel), seems more crystal-clear.

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    - "Turkey does not fullfil EU Criteria, and will never fullfil EU Criteria" on Human Rights, Democracy and Rule of Law. "Some have been lying to Ankara, but we must tell the Truth, and have honest and close relations with her", said meanwhile to "EuroFora" on the same issue also the President of EU Parliament's largest Group of MEPs (ChristianDemocrats/EPP), Joseph Daul.
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"Hot" Debate at EU Parliament reveals CHANGE of mood towards "Suspension" of EU - Tukey talks.
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    Earlier this week, many MEPs, and even some of those who were previously in favor of Turkey's controversial EU bid, strongly criticized the persistance and even aggravation of serious Human Rights violations in the country, that ECHR continues to "unanimously" condemn ":

      - "After winning a big victory in the latest Local Elections, the pro-Kurdish party DTP almost doubled its Elected Mayors from 52 to 98", but afterwards "more than 400 politicians were thrown to Prison and prosecuted" by the Turkish Authorities, denounced on behalf of the ChristianDemocrat/EPP Group, Belgian MEP Frieda Brepoels.

     At the same time, "more than 1.500 Children are closed in Turkish Prisons", she added. "What will the EU Commission do" against these facts ?

- "Turkey appears to be at greater Distance away from Copenhagen Criteria after 4 Years of accession Negotiations, than when they started !", denounced on behalf of the Liberal Group, German MEP Alexander Lambsdorf.    

"On the central issue of Press Freedom, Critical Journalists face obstacles for their accreditation, others are prosecuted, condemned, fined and/or jailed, Media blocked or closed", he denounced.   

 - "EU Made 2 grave Mistakes with Turkey : To start accession negotiations, and to continue them", despite everything, criticized Dutch MEP Bastian Belder, on behalf of the Ind/Dem group.

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