Dov Lynch Interview

For those of you who were interested in listening to Dov Lynch talk about how Europe views Georgia, my apologies for no audio available, however I have transcribed the excerpt below.

GD: Why has the Black Sea been forgotten as a 'European Sea'?

DL: The first reason is because we have other fish to fry. I mean there's other things to think about. I mean if you're in Brussels sitting in an EU office thinking about: what are our strategic interests? What do we have to deal with now, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, it's the Balkans, the Western Balkans, the Western Balkans and the Western Balkans. This is where the EU is forged as a security actor. This is what we have to deal with... we have to deal with Kosovo in 2006... Bosnia Herzegovina... this is it. Add to that enlargement and we just didn't have time to think about one step beyond this: what is our interest in the Black Sea? Now that is slowly changing because you have with the prospective membership of Romania and Bulgaria in 2007, the accession process of Turkey, Neighbourhood Policy with Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia... it seems like a reality you can no longer ignore that this is actually a 'European Sea' that we've forgotten about. And there's good reasons why we've forgotten - historically also because the Cold War... it [the Black Sea] was a Turkish, Russian, Soviet condominium there. But now, I think it's time now, especially from member states, and future member states, to think about: what should we do here? What are our interests? What stakes are here? What can be done in terms of environmental protection, organised crime prevention, increasing co-operation across the Black Sea, around the Black Sea which doesn't exist yet. I mean despite statements to the contrary, this is a very divided sea. So a lot of work has to be done in this area but it's time to do it.

GD: How does Europe view Georgia and the South Caucasus?

DL: That's changing. I mean Georgia and the South Caucasus a few years ago were being seen as distant and foreign, as a mountain range and not really a region, as a place of conflicts that are unresolved and a place of tensions with Russia - which is a strategic partnership of the EU. So it was kind of seen as something that we should keep at arms length. Member states - Britain, Germany and France - have long been interested and had special policies for the region. With enlargement, with the Rose Revolution, with various changes around the Black Sea, this [Europe's view] has changed. The EU now sees The Caucasus as being part of Europe and these certainly are the frontiers of Europe - as being part of our borders in a sense. Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia are recognised as being important neighbours and we've decided that if we do not have distinct interests, we have stakes at least. We have stakes in the success of this region, we have stakes in its stability and peaceful development beyond our direct interests in energy supplies. So things have changed.

Listen to the interview with Dov Lynch: