Rather, she focused on the somewhat easier topics of Greece’s vision for the future of the European Union and the EU’s recent dazzling foreign policy interventions; Greece’s current chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE); and the key role Greece has played in restoring gas supplies to homes in South Ossetia after the Georgian government cut them off. She then went on to talk about Greece’s immediate neighborhood, including relations with Turkey and the western Balkans, giving short shrift to the prime minister of Macedonia for his apparent intransigent approach to resolving the ongoing name dispute between his country and Greece.
On Turkey, there is no doubt these days Turkish-Greek relations are moving on the right track and that old animosities are slowly but surely being laid to rest. Greece puts itself forward as a strong supporter of Turkish accession to the EU and indeed has good reason to want Turkey in the club. It will remove from Greece the burden of responsibility for the EU’s southeastern border; it will create stability and prosperity in the Aegean, bringing an end to the continuing tensions between the two NATO allies; and it will mean the end of the Cyprus problem in which, whether Greece likes it or not, Athens has to take its share of responsibility, even though these days it is clearly easier for them to blame Turkey and follow a policy of “the Greek Cypriots decide and Athens supports their decision.”
Minister Bakoyannis repeated that Greece has always been and will continue to be a strong supporter of Turkey’s European orientation and congratulated Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on his recent efforts, including the appointment of a full-time chief negotiator as well as his recent trip to Brussels. However, at the same time she clearly could not resist demonstrating that Greece is somewhat able to lord it over Turkey given that Greece is already an EU member and implied that Turkey needs to be a good student and please the teachers if it wants to make progress. She stressed that Turkey still has some way to go and that Ankara should “honor her commitments and promises.” She emphasized that Turkey will get no à la carte treatment, stressing that Ankara must be prepared to go through the same tough and rigorous procedures as previous candidate countries, including Greece.
Although Greek support is warmly welcomed, I find such remarks hypocritical and unnecessary because they are far from reality. First, in no way does Turkey get special treatment. Rather the opposite as Turkey’s EU road is proving to be more difficult, complicated and politicized than any other previous country. Secondly, as far as I can recall, Greece’s own entry to the EU in 1981 was a much easier affair. Back in those days, there was no such thing as the Copenhagen criteria, no tough benchmarks to be met and no 27 member-states with conflicting ideas to please. It is also worth remembering that when Greece applied for membership, the European Commission actually concluded the country was not ready to join the EU. The decision was overruled by the European Council. If Greece had had to play by today’s rules, I doubt whether it would have had such an easy time. The minister should also be reminded that when talking about “honoring commitments and promises,” this is something that has to work both ways. The EU needs to keep its side of the bargain and not allow some of its members to continue to move the goal posts.
Bakoyannis then went on to talk about outstanding issues related to the reform process, including the lack of progress on minority rights. The moment the words came from her mouth I found myself thinking, “double standards.” Of all the things she could have focused on, why choose this in light of the fact that Greece is a country that has a particularly shabby record on minority rights, particularly when it comes to its Turkish and Roma communities. Finally, in a clear reference to ongoing difficulties between the two neighbors in the Aegean, she stressed that good neighborly relations and adherence to international law are also of capital importance, clearly implying that Turkey also needs to put in more efforts.
While I appreciate the Greek government’s support toward Turkey, I do not feel such a preaching attitude is particularly constructive or useful. Greece should also be prepared to take on its share of responsibility for continuing tensions and problems in the region rather than trying to imply it is blameless, which could not be further from the truth.
