Plum Crazy

The French have their knickers in a twist about this.

In the meantime, Bulgaria has vowed to resist French attempts to bully it into withdrawing support for America's plans to disarm Iraq. Last week the French ambassador to Sofia warned Bulgaria that its pro-American stance could jeopardise its efforts to join the European Union.

"Bulgaria has to consider carefully where its long-term interests lie," Jean Loup Kuhn-Delforge said last week. "When people live in Europe they should express solidarity and think European-style."

Given that the governments of 18 Eurupean countries are now backing the American government (see here and here), it strikes me that Bulgaria is thinking "European-style." The problem seems to be that France thinks that "European-style" means "French-style," while most other European nations have another definition.

A diplomat from one of the Baltic states said with undisguised relish: "It's pretty clear now that Europe isn't just France and Germany."

And

Solomon Pasi, Bulgaria's foreign minister, condemned the French as neo-appeasers. "We all remember the hesitancy of the Allies, who weren't sure whether to attack Hitler. They could have prevented so much," he said.

"We're in a situation where we have a moral imperative to act and act now."

This may not bode well for France and Germany in the long-run. It is clear the other European nations are growing weary of the self-proclaimed dominance of France and Germany in the European Union. Granted that the governments of these nations face public relations problems at home over their stance on Iraq. However, this does not mean that their constituents are also not tired of France and Germany calling all the EU shots.

It is quite possible that other nations will rebel against blackmailing potential EU entrants into towing the French and German line. European memories run long, and many of the new applicants were victims of the previous fruits of German dominance and the French appeasement of said dominance. I think Die Welt is wrong. The statement issued by the "Gang of Eight" has not "'sounded the death knell" for a common European foreign and security policy 'even before it has become a reality.'" It has not become a reality because the rest of Europe does not want a "European" foreign and security policy driven by the Germans and French.