When three years ago the EU-3 (France, Germany and the UK) launched a diplomatic initiative to help resolve the Iranian nuclear “crisis“ created intentionally by the US and some of its European allies, the international community was thrilled that a new player was emerging on the global scene.
The European undertaking was welcomed with open arms as the global community assumed that unlike the biased, bigoted and belligerent American policies, the troika would infuse new blood into international relations by pursuing a more responsible, even-handed and fair policy based on soft power.
After all the EU, the world’s biggest aid donor, has long been trying to change its image as a mere economic bloc to an influential global player.
The 25-nation European group began to play an increasingly active role in the international arena from peace-keeping in the Balkans and Africa, conflict resolution in Indonesia and border assistance in Gaza.
But carving out an active role is one thing, and playing a successful and effective role is something else.
EU officials have been publicly proclaiming that Iran is the litmus test for European policy and here it failed miserably the main reason being that Brussels obediently followed Washington’s dictates vis-a-vis Tehran.
Three years of EU diplomacy mainly laced with sticks of threats and absurd demands on the Islamic Republic failed to make any breakthrough.
Almost three years and several rounds of high-level talks later, one now wonders whether the Europeans were genuinely interested in finding a solution to the nuclear issue or merely acting as a proxy on behalf of the pro-Israeli rulers in Washington.
The EU-3 move to refer Iran’s nuclear program to the UN Security Council, a long-time obsession of Bush’s America proves that it wanted to entrap Iran into a web built in concurrence with the White House.
Besides, the free world is watching with utter disappointment that instead of adopting an independent approach, the EU is aping the US in adjusting its policies whether in Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, the nuclear issueÉ and in the process losing credibility in the Middle East and in the wider international arena.
Even fair-minded European analysts were taken aback by EU threats to cut off all financial aid if Hamas would form a government in Palestine without prior recognition of Israel, and ending its legitimate resistance to the brutal occupation.
The Islamic group, which won the fair and democratic elections, has been put on the EU ’terrorist list’ just like the US did.
Dov Lynch, Senior Research Fellow, EU Institute for Security Studies (ISS), rightly concludes that the EU as a foreign policy actor was failing to communicate its message effectively.
In a working paper, titled Communicating Europe to the World: What public diplomacy for the EU?, he states that the EU’s voice, at best, is garbled; at worst, it is not heard at all. “As the EU develops as a global strategic player, this ’abject failure’ to communicate externally must be corrected,“ advises Lynch. As things stand now, the EU’s performance on the global stage has been a big failure and the biggest loser is the European bloc itself.