EU: European Union foreign ministers meet in the Danish town of Elsinore today amid mounting anxiety in European capitals over the prospect of United States military action against Iraq. The ministers will discuss Iraq tomorrow during a broader debate over the future of the Middle East.
European governments are dismayed at the increasingly bellicose tone adopted by senior members of the US administration. Recent remarks by the Vice-President, Mr Dick Cheney, and the Defence Secretary, Mr Donald Rumsfeld, have been interpreted as a statement of Washington's intention to invade Iraq even without United Nations approval.
Germany's Foreign Minister, Mr Joschka Fischer, warned this week that, if the US acts alone against Iraq, Washington must take responsibility for the peace and stability of the entire Middle East. Even Britain, which is Washington's most loyal ally in Europe, has expressed misgivings about moving too hastily on Iraq.
The conservative candidate for chancellor in next month's German election, Mr Edmund Stoiber, this week abandoned his support for Washington.
But European governments also fear that unilateral US action could undermine the EU's emerging role as a foreign policy player. For the past few months, the EU has worked intensively in a "Quartet" with the US, the UN and Russia, to ease tension between the Israelis and the Palestinians. US action against Iraq could threaten the EU's role as a mediator between Arabs and Israelis.
During their two-day meeting, the foreign ministers will discuss a Danish initiative to resolve the Middle East crisis and create a Palestinian state by 2005. During a preliminary phase, the Palestinians would explicitly recognise the state of Israel, reform their own institutions and start to draw up a constitution. The plan is expected to receive a sympathetic hearing in Elsinore this weekend.
But US action against Iraq during the next few months could remove any prospect of the EU initiative becoming a reality.
Deaglán de Bréadún writes: A Fianna Fáil MEP has expressed outright opposition to an invasion of Iraq. "The EU should not, under any circumstances, support military action against Iraq, which will have no legitimacy under international law," Mr Niall Andrews said. "The war, such as is contemplated by the hawks in Washington led by Secretary of State Rumsfeld, could be the ultimate conflict between two civilisations."
