Margaret
Israel wants full EU membership
Fri Jul 11 20:33:14 2003
208.152.73.145

Israel wants full EU membership

http://www.hipakistan.com/en/detail.php?newsId=en31325&F_catID=&f_type=source

> BRUSSELS: Tel Aviv has sent several signals to the European Union
> conveying that Israel wants full EU membership.
>
> Israeli government has officially told the EU that Israel is expediting
> its endeavours to resolve all its outstanding disputes with its
> neighbouring states which is a pre-requisite under the EU rules for
> acceptance of any country's candidature, a reliable source in Brussels
> told the News.
>
> The European Union is faced with a new dilemma of handling the fresh
> diplomatic initiative by Israel seeking a full EU membership with the
> support of the current EU presidency, while other major EU member states
> remain divided on the issue.
>
> The European Union was first startled when Israeli Foreign Minister Silver
> Shalom recently told an EU delegation in Washington that his government
> was weighing an application to join the EU. The foreign minister was
> quoted as saying: "possibility, in principle, exists for Israel to join
> the EU since Israel and Europe share similar economies and democratic
> values."
>
> Italy holds the current EU presidency. Italian Prime Minister Silvio
> Berlusconi supports Israel's inclusion in the EU, and his views on this
> issue have triggered another crucial debate at the European Union. "My
> country insists on the vision of expanded Europe that will include Turkey,
> Romania, Bulgaria, Moldavia, the Ukraine, Russia, Belorussia and, of
> course, Israel. If Europe wants to compete with the United States, it must
> find a way to speak in one voice," the prime minister was quoted as
saying.

>
> Germany is the first to express deep reservations over the new EU
> presidency's propensity to support the campaign launched by Israel asking
> for a full membership of the EU. Germany has reacted coolly to the calls
> by the Italian prime minister to include Israel, Russia and Ukraine as new
> members in the European Union.
>
> Despite very close relations with Israel and Russia, Germany is publicly
> opposing the move aimed at granting EU membership to these countries.
>
> "There are no plans to include these countries into the European Union,"
> German Foreign Ministry spokesman Walter Lindner said in a briefing.
>
> The supporters of Israel's inclusion in the European Union argue that
> there should be no trepidation in accepting Israel's candidature for the
> EU, as Turkey, a strategic Middle East player and an Islamic country, has
> already been officially accepted as a candidate for the EU.
>
> Knowing that under the prevalent EU rules, a country in dispute with its
> neighbours is not entitled to apply for candidature of the European Union,
> Israel's sympathisers in the EU are advising the government of Ariel
> Sharon to keep on expediting official efforts to implement the Middle East
> "roadmap" besides achieving peace with Syria and Jordan. Israel has
> already concluded peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan.
>
> The European Union is a major actor in the Middle East, playing a vital
> role as a member of the "Quartet" of the United States, EU, Russia and the
> United Nations that have jointly drawn up the roadmap to settle the Middle
> East crisis.


http://israpundit.com/archives/001580.html

http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/jul2003-daily/07-07-2003/main/main17.htm

http://www.itszone.co.uk/zone0/viewtopic.php?t=7664&sid=6b865ad4c11bba55863e141eb0933e5d

>
>
> I thought the following was a great saying.
> Margaret.
>
> Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when
> the government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are
> naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers.
> The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of
> zeal, well-meaning but without understanding."
> Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis,
> Olmstead v. United States, 277 U. S. 438 (1928)

• Yet they want no involvement with the ICC — Pat the Patriot..., Sat Jul 12 07:25