Supporting Tunisia is in our own European interest

Last week, in the middle of a discussion about the Arab changes and democratisation processes, I made a strong point to my European friends about Tunisia. The line was very simple: we should encourage EU tourists to visit the country as a way of helping the country to overcome the current economic slowdown. We should also put pressure on the travel agencies to bring Tunisia back as a highly recommended destination. And we should recognize the country as an example within the North African region and be clear about our support to its political transformation.

In this context, yesterday´s terrorist action against foreign tourists, with very heavy loss of life, is a major setback, besides being a great tragedy for the victims. If the forces that oppose democratic change and liberty wanted to cause serious damage to Tunisia they managed to achieve their aims yesterday. The tourism sector is now ready to collapse. This will have a deep impact on the country´s economy and it will create additional social hardships.

Our role, as EU friends of the Arab positive change, is to call for more EU assistance to Tunisia, on an extraordinary basis, as a bridging package, to give the country a chance to rebuild its image as a safe destination. Part of such assistance should include a strong security component. We ought to keep in mind that success on the Southern banks of the Mediterranean Sea are vital for our European interests. 

Back and promoting negotiated solutions to shared crises

Back from a long voyage, I recall that one of the last posts I wrote before travelling has been about Russia and NATO. That post remains so current!

But I should add that we, on our side of the world, have a biased view of Russia as well. The Russians might believe in confrontation. But we have also shown we share the same believe. We might say that everybody wins if we cooperate and dialogue. However, we love to impose sanctions on others and still think that the ultimatum is a fine diplomatic instrument. Or the best diplomatic tool is to be able to understand the strategic interests of the adversary and initiate a dialogue taking such interests as the starting point for a negotiated solution.

EU and Ukraine: what´s next?

The Ukrainian situation remains at the top of the EU agenda. It is true that the crisis keeps widening. But there is another major reason. Brussels is preparing itself for the next summit meeting with Russia, scheduled for 28 January. And the Europeans are struggling to find a common and effective position on Ukraine to bring to the summit table. The countries to the East of EU are pushing for a very strong statement on Ukraine. They think that will contain Russia´s European ambitions. Other countries, lead by Germany, believe that trade issues are more important than the Ukrainian fate.

In the meantime, Baroness Ashton is getting ready to travel to Kiev. She will bring a message about human rights and democracy. That´s not bad. But it is not enough to unlock the current impasse between Yanukovych and the opposition.