The heavyweights opposed the idea of giving the green light to the country of 4 million, citing a lack of reforms and a fractured political system. The US, France and Germany led the pack while Turkey only secured Slovenia in advance to sign onto a resolution for a call to accept Bosnia.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu was passionate in his speech at the dinner, which lasted more than four hours. Next to him was British Foreign Minister David Miliband. The adjoining tables in front of the Turkish and British diplomats were not level, and there was a bump where they met that was unnoticeable to the naked eye as it was covered by a tablecloth.
Davutoğlu, who shies away from consuming any alcohol, placed the glass of red wine right on top of the unlevel junction between the tables while trying to put it aside. The glass tumbled over and showered Miliband. The waitress brought another glass of red wine and put it right on the same troubled spot on the tables, and this time it spilled on both diplomats. Another waitress, not knowing what happened, brought white wine and put it on the table, again on the unlevel spot, only for it to tip over a third time.
A series of mishaps at the table drew attention from all members. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen jumped in and jokingly said: “That table looked like the Balkans.” “This table is not stable,” replied the chief Turkish diplomat, signaling the position taken at the summit was not stable for the Balkans and poses grave risks for the future of the alliance. He vented his frustration in the end that Bosnia did not get a Membership Action Plan (MAP) for NATO. Nevertheless, the resolution, which started out with meager support, heralded only by Turkey and Slovenia, garnered endorsement from seven NATO members at that meeting.
That was not the end of the story for Turkey, however. Davutoğlu, keen to get what he wanted in the first place, started lobbying more intensely than ever for the preparation of the rematch, scheduled to be held in Tallinn last week, to deliver this time a promising prospect for Bosnia. In the Tallinn meeting, the movement to allow Bosnia into the military club gained great momentum with at least 15 members openly supporting and each stating their endorsement of a MAP for Bosnia, albeit with nuances in the approaches. The opposition was relegated to only a handful of members such as France, Germany and the Netherlands. The US caved in and went along with Turkey on this one, proposing a compromise package, which is essentially very close to the Turkish proposal.
Interestingly enough all of Bosnia’s neighbors including Serbia, which still aches from a 1995 NATO attack, expressed their support for Sarajevo’s bid for NATO membership. One diplomat said this is a first in the history of NATO and noted that the alliance should capitalize on this. What is more, all three groups including the Serbian minority within Bosnia and Herzegovina agree on the policy with regard to NATO.
The Turkish foreign minister was cheerful and jubilant after securing a MAP for Bosnia, with the help of his close friends in the alliance. “Did you follow what happened,” he asked me at the Swissôtel lobby where the Turkish delegation was staying. “We did it,” he replied, without waiting for a response. The issue was at the top of the priority list for him when he was coming to Tallinn, he told me aboard the plane. He was relaxed and sounded confident after it became evident that a MAP would be given to Bosnia.
Yet the saga for Bosnia is far from over. There are still issues that need to be sorted out for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Davutoğlu has already started working on a set of issues. While he was making phone calls to figure out what to do on one issue, he almost missed the group photo opportunity in Tallinn where all the foreign ministers gathered. He was the last one to join the picture.
