WHEN IT comes to practising the art of diplomacy, President Christofias has repeatedly been found wanting. Incapable of suppressing his emotions or exercising restraint when talking publicly, he has committed a series of mistakes which cannot be good for relations with EU partners or for the country in general.
After the disastrous confrontational policy of the previous government, which led to Cyprus’ isolation in Brussels, there really was a need for a more cautious approach to foreign relations.
It seemed that Christofias was aware of in his first couple of months but forgot about it in the ensuing period as he was welcomed into the club of EU leaders which had been snubbing his predecessor.
The lack of diplomatic refinement was evident after meetings with the leading personalities, with Christofias making a habit of announcing to journalists everything that was said. After meeting the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, he announced that he had told him to take care of Turkey, as if he was issuing instructions to some flunkey. He declared that he had ‘chemistry’ with the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon after visiting him in New York, before telling reporters what they had discussed.
This behaviour could have been attributed to lack of experience but there was no excuse for his undiplomatic utterances on his official visit to Russia, where, apart from offending his hosts with his nostalgia for the Soviet Union, he publicly disparaged NATO. Not only did he declare that NATO had no reason to exist any longer, but he also announced that he would promote Russia’s proposed security system for Europe at the EU.
In effect, he had volunteered to be Russia’s satellite in the EU, totally ignoring the fact that 21 of the 27 EU member states were also members of NATO. In other words, NATO is the security system of the EU, which Christofias declared had no reason to exist.
More importantly, all the former Warsaw Pact countries in the EU are NATO members, primarily because the Alliance offers protection from any possible security threats posed by Russia. For these countries and the remaining 11 EU member-states that belong to NATO there is very good reason for its existence. Christofias should have taken this into account before undiplomatically mouthing off.
Diplomacy needs rational thought and the ability to keep emotions, which are always the worst adviser, on a tight rein. In this respect, Christofias has badly failed. He allowed his anti-NATO prejudices dictate a foreign policy that is not in the best interest of Cyprus as it could affect relations with many of our European partners.
His undiplomatic behaviour has already suffered a major embarrassment in Brussels. He publicly made it his objective to prevent Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn dealing with the Cyprus problem, because he was allegedly pro-Turkish.
The Commission took no notice of his request and when he recently asked Barroso for more direct EU involvement in talks, he received a positive response and was told Rehn would have this responsibility. This forced foreign minister Marcos Kyprianou to sing Rehn’s praises.
Hopefully Christofias will have drawn the right lessons from this embarrassing episode because Cyprus really cannot afford any more of his diplomatic blunders.
