Ahtisaari to head new EU foreign affairs group

Martti Ahtisaari

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Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari is to head a new group of experts studying ways that the European Union might better promote its interests on the international level. The aim is to give the EU countries a louder and more unified voice than before.
      The EU is already a major factor and contributor to the UN, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank.
      "But how can we get this to be reflected in our thinkinkg?" Ahtisaari pondered on Tuesday.
     
According to Ahtisaari, the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), which was launched on Tuesday, is an umbrella organisation whose tasks include following events, collecting research and reports, and raising debate.
      The 50 founding members are thoroughly experienced in European politics. Ahtisaari is a member of the presidium of the ECFR.
      One of the most important focal areas of the ECFR is the development of relations between the EU and Russia. The first report on the subject, focusing on economics, is coming out in October.
     
So how worried is Ahtisaari himself about the unstable situation in Russia and its impact on the EU countries?
      "In general I am not the worrying, but rather the analysing kind", he said, and continued:
      "Russia should not be demonised. We must understand its development and put it in its right perspective."
      Development of cooperation between the EU and Russia is significant. However, Ahtisaari hopes that more characteristics of the rule of law might be seen in Russia.
      Other important areas of interest for the ECFR include the EU's relations with international organisations, the Turkish question, and the situation in the West Balkans.
      Turkey's possible EU membership sharply divides the member states, and no clear solution has been seen for the situation in Kosovo.
      Ahtisaari, who headed the Turkey Commission that was set up in 2004, visited Turkey in September to meet local decision-makers. A report on Turkey is to come out next summer.
     
Already a year ago overtures were made to Ahtisaari to see if he would act as a promotor of EU interests. The ECFR idea crystallised early this year. Before that there had been extensive discussions with European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and others.
      Ahtisaari insists that the Commission does not see himself and his group as a rival.
      Ahtisaari's work with the ECFR is not a full-time job. The official opening of the think tank is in November in Berlin. The council is to have about 20 paid employees.
      The ECFR is to have offices in seven European capitals. None of them will be in Brussels or in any of the Nordic countries. Financing comes from European foundations, among other sources.


Links:
  ECFR website

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