One week in Europe: In aftermath of Greek election

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Federica Morgherini at the EU foreign affairs ministers’ meeting in Brussels for an extraordinary session to discuss the situation in Ukraine on January 29, 2015

The result of the Greek election and its impact on EU policy was the main focus this week in the European Union. But talks also continued on how to fight terrorism following the terror attacks in Paris.

The victory of left-wing Syriza evoked not only discussions among finance ministers in the eurogroup. It also had an impact on this week’s foreign ministers’ meeting as the new Greek government played hardball concerning sanctions on Russia.

Kremlin-friendly Greeks sceptical on sanctions

Following further escalation of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine, the EU sent a communication blaming Russia for an attack in Mariupol which killed 30 people. However, the new Greek government, which is said to have close ties with Russia, wasn’t consulted and later abjured the statement. (audio in Greek)

“Some member states have not shown their best behaviour. They have violated the rules governing the European Union and tried to include us in a decision taken even before the new Greek government was sworn in. This is unacceptable. Whoever thinks that because of its debt Greece will abandon its sovereignty and its active role in European policy-making is deeply mistaken”, said Greece’s new foreign minister, Nikos Kotzias, to Euranet Plus partner Skaï Radio.

The official protest was described as unique and it came as a surprise in Brussels, where unity against Russia is seen as essential.

Later on Thursday (January 29), Kotzias went to Brussels for an emergency meeting, where the aim was to impose tougher sanctions on Russia.

In the end, all member states, including Greece, managed to agree, but the response to the Kremlin was not as sharp as many had hoped for. Ministers decided to extend the blacklist, but the conclusions didn’t mention any further economic sanctions.

Russia – a wild card in the Greek bailout

There has been speculation that Greece is using a possible veto on Russian sanctions to increase its bargaining power in the negotiations of its bailout program which is about to expire.

Syriza has promised to put an end to the austerity polices imposed by the EU, but on Monday, the day after the Greek election, the Eurogroup made it quite clear that Greece needs to reform and pay back on its debt in order to receive further financial support.

In the coming weeks there will be intense talks about the country’s bailout terms, starting with Eurogroup leader, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, going to Athens this Friday followed by French minister, Michel Sapin, next week.

Spanish Podemos breath fresh morning air

With the success of Syriza in Greece, other similar movements across Europe will try to surf on the left-wing wave with comparable messages of anti-austerity. In Spain the result of the Greek election was warmly welcomed by the Podemos Party.

“We welcome what has happened in Greece, first as wonderful news for the Greeks and as wonderful news for Europeans, for Democrats. We also think that the victory of Syriza in Greece is a confirmation of the failure of austerity policies and we think that it is good news for Europe that Greece will finally have a Greek president and not a delegate of Angela Merkel. That the sovereignty can’t be in the hands of the Bundesbank, that the sovereignty can’t be in the hands of the European troika”, said Podemos’ Pablo Iglesias Turrión, to Euranet Plus partner esRadio Castilla y León.

Apart from the Greek elections, fighting terrorism was the other main point on the Brussels agenda during the week.

In aftermath of terror attacks in Paris

Fighting terrorism was the primary topic on the informal meeting in Riga, where justice and home Affairs ministers met on Thursday and Friday.

It was also widely discussed in the European Parliament, where the EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, Gilles de Kerchove, presented some ideas on how to improve the coordination among member states in order to prevent radicalisation.

“One is to transform what is called the ‘Radicalisation Awareness Network’, which is an excellent idea connecting field workers and collecting the best practices at mainly local level, into a centre of excellence with money and experts that could be sent to the member states,” de Kerchove sai.

France wants to cut terrorist financing

During the finance minister’s meeting, France’s Michel Sapin also pushed for rapid action and new measures to cut terrorists financing.

The EU is currently discussing new anti-money laundering rules, which are supposed to make it harder for terrorists and other criminals to launder money through shell companies.

However, Krišjānis Kariņš, who is the responsible negotiator in the European Parliament, said it will take at least two years before the new rules can apply. And he also said it would be difficult to impose additional measures.

“Our member states, it turns out, have very different interests when it comes to what kind of controls should be there, how much should be centralised in Europe, how much should be in the hands of member states. This is a balance which was struck, it took six months of intensive negotiation. I don’t believe that something has fundamentally shifted in enough member states to want to make the legislation even sharper, even faster,” Kariņš sai.

Something else which will take a lot of time to put in place is European rules on roaming, EU Commissioner Günther Oettinger revealed this week.

Agreement on roaming ‘before the end of the decade’

In a discussion in the European Parliament, the EU Commissioner responsible for digital economy, Günther Oettinger, said there will be some pit-stops on the lengthy road towards a roaming-free Europe for mobile phones.

“Not every member state, and not all European citizens, have the same interest in roaming. Some have clear advantages, some, maybe, some disadvantages for the moment, so we need a good balance, and maybe we need a timeline to come these two or three steps to a functioning roaming situation, before the end of the decade,” Commissioner Oettinger said in a Euranet Plus interview.

• Author: Andreas Liljeheden, Euranet Plus News Agency

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