By Martin Banks - 5th April 2011
The EU was too late in responding to the crisis in both Tunisia and Egypt
Guy Verhofstadt
The leader of the Greens/EFA group in parliament has launched a withering attack on Germany's contribution to the coalition effort in Libya.
Speaking on Tuesday, Daniel Cohn-Bendit accused Germany of "hiding" while other nations had responded to the unfolding crisis in Libya.
With France and Britain leading the military campaign, Cohn-Bendit is not alone in criticising Germany's role in the international response to events in Libya.
Former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer led the way on Tuesday when he said that Germany had thrown away any chance of a permanent United Nations security council seat by abstaining in last week's vote on military intervention in Libya.
"German politics has forfeited its credibility in the UN and in the Middle East," Fischer said, calling Germany's abstention a "scandalous mistake".
Germany, which occupies a two-year rotational seat on the security council, has long campaigned for permanent representation on the body.
Fischer, of the Green Party, said he couldn't understand the security council decision by German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle.
On Monday, however, Westerwelle rejected suggestions that Germany's stance on Libya had effectively aligned the EU's leading economic power with Gaddafi rather than with its Nato and European allies.
"This does not mean that we are neutral, it does not mean that we have any sympathy with colonel Gaddafi, but it means that we see the risks," he said.
Cohn-Bendit, the outspoken MEP veteran, has now entered the fray with his comments during a news conference in Strasbourg, accusing Germany of "hiding" from its responsibilities.
He also appealed to the international community to learn from the "mistakes and blunders" of recent military interventions in its approach to current events in the Arab world.
He said, "You also have to ask how it was that the west had, until very recently, relations with Gaddafi, a man we are now bombing?"
Speaking separately, ALDE leader Guy Verhofstadt appealed to EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton to come forward with a "proactive" strategy for dealing with current unrest in Syria.
The former Belgian PM said, "The EU was too late in responding to the crisis in both Tunisia and Egypt and, until the no-fly zone was imposed, it was also late in its response to events in Libya.
"What we believe is needed is a sort of Marshall plan for the whole Middle East."
Elsewhere, S&D leader Martin Schulz said there were "deep divisions" between France and Germany on the right course to take in Libya.
Speaking in Strasbourg, the German deputy also mocked the "pretence" of EU leaders to say that all is well, "just as the ship is sinking".
During a debate on the outcome of the 24-25 March EU summit, Schulz rounded on commission president José Manuel Barroso over the collapse of the Portuguese Socialist government.
He accused Barroso's party of "bringing down the government for implementing the policies that you and the commission demanded".
Schulz added: "The Portuguese government is simply doing what the stability framework demands of it."
Schulz also accused EU banks of profiteering from the economic crisis, saying, "The European Central Bank is lending at one per cent to banks that then lend the money out to governments at 10 per cent. Those who caused the crisis are still the people making the biggest profit out of the crisis."
Pointing out that countries such as India and Brazil are currently investing for the future, Schulz added, "We need the courage to make public investments. Instead, Europe is cutting itself to death."
The aims of the EU2020 strategy should be binding, he said, in order to force governments to do what they say they will do. To enable progress, Schulz said the EU needed "a committed, ambitious budget" for next year.
