MILLIYET- Columnist Sami Kohen writes on Greece’s assuming the EU term presidency for the next six months. A summary of his column is as follows:
It’s hard not to envy Greece.
Greece yesterday took over European Union’s rotating presidency. Over the next six months, Athens will have a tremendous opportunity to make important political, social and economic decisions which will significantly shape the EU’s future.
It’s also difficult not to admire Greece’s current position within the Union, for we all know that just a few years ago certain EU circles harshly criticized its for its weak economy and uncooperative attitude towards both the Balkan countries and Turkey. Greece is nothing but a burden for the Union, they argued. Now, however, this country has become the EU term president. Let’s admit that the pragmatic, progressive policies of the Simitis administration have played an important role in Greece’s successful rise within the EU ranks.
This is, in fact, a very critical period for the EU. There’s a host of problems that the new EU president will have to tackle with. Greece should develop productive and innovative policies to address these problems.
On the one hand, the EU has its own problems to deal with, such as the enlargement process, the European Convention, and harmonization problems of its new members. On the other hand, the Iraq issue looms large as the Union’s the major international issue.
Doubtlessly, Greece’s term presidency will provide it with certain important opportunities. Athens will host a ceremony on April 16 to mark the accession of 10 new members which were admitted to the Union at the recent Copenhagen summit. It’s an important opportunity for Greece to stand as EU term president in a period when the number of EU members swells to 25. However, the issue of Cyprus, one of the 10, might overshadow this opportunity. If the parties on the island fail to reach a settlement by Feb. 28, then the Greek Cypriot administration will become a full EU member alone, without Northern Cyprus, which might escalate problems on the island. One is tempted to believe that Greece will be proud to help Greek Cyprus join the EU and will do its utmost to achieve this goal during its presidency. However, Greece will also undeniably have to take into consideration the possible negative and even disastrous consequences of such a move.
Greek officials have recently stated that their country will promote Turkey’s EU membership bid during their EU presidency. Considering Greece’s recent positive attitude towards our country, we’re inclined to believe their honesty and sincerity. Greece now has greater opportunities to help us. However, if the Greek Cypriots are admitted to the Union on their own, Greece and Turkey will probably face bigger problems in the future.

SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION