Sir, - In response to prerequisites (Agenda 2000) of European enlargement with regard to Eastern European countries, I would like to pose these questions:
Is democracy the key to the world's political problems? Should we in the European Union take on the role of enforcing democratic rule in our neighbours' lands? Does Eastern Europe really want democratic government or would it prefer strong and fair authoritarian rule? Who are we to tell it that it should enforce democracy? After all, there is more violence on the streets of Belfast than on the streets of Budapest; there are higher illiteracy rates in the US than in Eastern Europe.
Democracy does not necessarily lead to stable economic growth, good welfare systems and an advanced infrastructure network. These can be established under any regime, democratic, authoritarian or military. As a citizen of the European Union, I feel morally obliged to ask this question: Is the EU taking an imperialist attitude in its method of enforcing a political regime that may not be suitable to Romania, Belarus and Bulgaria, to name but a few?
"The EU is a club and those who join accept club rules" (CEPS). Surely, Eastern European countries have a right to be members of this "club" so long as they respect human rights and develop a stable economy, no matter what their political regime. It is imperative that, as our Union becomes wider and deeper, we become more receptive and tolerant of other ideas, philosophies, religions and creeds. - Yours, etc., Margarete McGrath,
4th year Student, Political Science, Trinity College, Dublin.