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EURO APPEASEMENT - UPDATED
Sunday, February 5, 2006
EURO APPEASEMENT - UPDATED
But what really sealed the Danes' fate--and possibly Europe's--was the lack of solidarity from other governments. The European Union likes to call "emergency meetings" for the most trivial topics, from farm subsidies to VAT rates. But when one of their smallest members came under attack for nothing else than being a European country, for defending the values and norms the EU is based on, there was nothing but silence from Europe's capitals. That silence has been heard and understood in the Muslim world.This is from today’s Opinion Journal and on the face of it appears to be an accurate assessment. It is however not just silence, in many ways the EU is seeking to become more pro-active in actually appeasing the Muslim world or otherwise curb the freedom of the press. Here are some exhibits to support that claim (I will add more if and when I find or get them): 1. Former Dutch foreign minister and EU-Commissioner Hans van den Broek appeared on Dutch TV today and suggested that 'If cartoons create all this mayhem, then you should wonder if publishing them is worth all that.' 2. EU justice commissioner Franco Frattini is considering a “media code of conduct”> in order to avoid further damaging relations between Christian, secular and Islamic Europeans. (hat tip: Sullivan). 3. More from Frattini who, while condemning the violence, qualifies the publication of the cartoons as "somewhat imprudent". This is of course reminiscent of the standard response after suicide bombings: "we condemn all violence, but ..." 4. Of course Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw's commentary wasn't all that helpful either: "There is freedom of speech, we all respect that, but there is not any obligation to insult or to be gratuitously inflammatory. I believe that the republication of these cartoons has been unnecessary, it has been insensitive, it has been disrespectful and it has been wrong."It is of course within Straw's right to say this - just as it is Frattini's - but the moral certainty with which he qualifies the publication as "wrong" could be construed as a borderline government incursion on press territory. Related Posts 
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