The EU and the Eastern Mediterranean: How to deal with Turkey
- Autores: Eduard Soler i Lecha
- Localización: Notes internacionals CIDOB, ISSN-e 2013-4428, Nº. 251, 2021, págs. 1-8
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
-
Resumen
EU leaders and institutions have always seen Ankara as a difficult partner and a troublesome ally, but Turkey is increasingly depicted as a geopolitical rival.
Intersecting conflicts, the assertive policies of key players and the crisis of trust between Turkey and its European and Western partners contributed to raising the tension in the Eastern Mediterranean in 2019 and 2020.
The impossibility of the EU agreeing sanctions, Turkey’s perception that confrontation could be too costly, and the expectations created by Biden’s election in the US contributed to postponing a major crisis.
The bases for this appeasement are fragile and sooner or later tensions will resurface. The Eastern Mediterranean is the space where an EU–Turkey rivalry may solidify or where a policy of productive engagement could be given a new chance.
A more cohesive, frank and understanding EU could make a difference – one which avoids the temptation of a grand bargain, opts for the segmentation of contentious portfolios, and places a shared green recovery at the centre of a cooperative agenda.
