WASHINGTON: The United States may be relieved it no longer has to fend off a budding political counterweight in Europe, but it is taking little comfort in the deepening political woes of its trans-Atlantic allies.
The Americans have studiously avoided comment on the European Union’s struggles to find its footing after shelving its draft constitution and seeing this week’s EU summit descend into disarray.
But US officials are clearly hoping the EU will remain united, strong and able to provide crucial political support for a full plate of thorny issues from the Middle East to Asia.
“We are confident that this partnership will continue to grow and to be put to use in the service of great goals,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said after US-EU talks early this month.
Some US officials privately expressed little sympathy at seeing erstwhile rivals over Iraq, such as French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, squirm in the EU spotlight.
Commentators here also suggested Washington was not too unhappy with any rifts on the continent that strengthened the Euro-clout of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the staunchest US ally.
But the EU crisis has erupted at a time when the United States appeared to be losing its appetite to go it alone in the world and was seeking broader diplomatic cover for an ambitious global agenda.
A senior administration official said the worst thing for Washington would be a Europe turned in on itself. He said this would be a major theme underlying an EU-US summit here Monday.
“We will be reaching out to the Europeans to work with them and make it clear that they are involved in active agenda with us,” said the official, who asked not to be named.
Washington has been eager to bury its differences with the Europeans over the 2003 invasion of Iraq and enlist their help in rebuilding the battered country in the face of a tenacious insurgency.
In the latest sign of increasing cooperation, the United States and EU will co-host a gathering of more than 80 countries on Wednesday in Brussels aimed at plotting the next steps in Iraqi reconstruction.
The administration of President George W. Bush will no doubt hope for a new show of confidence in an Iraq policy challenged by unremitting violence, communal tensions and declining support among the US public.
The United States is also turning to the Europeans for assistance on other fronts:
— The EU is part of the “quartet” of diplomatic powers working to implement a US-backed “roadmap” to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and establish two independent states coexisting peacefully.
Washington is tapping European leaders for help in raising up to three billion dollars in assistance for Palestinians areas evacuated by Israel after its Gaza pullout scheduled for August, the New York Times reported on Friday.
— The Americans have also allowed EU members France, Germany and Britain to take the lead in negotiating with Iran in hopes of persuading Tehran to give up its suspected nuclear weapons programme.
— The United States has begun strategic talks with the Europeans in other areas as well, notably about a common approach to Asia, where China’s military buildup is a source of concern to the administration.
The trans-Atlantic allies still have areas of contention, such as the dispute over EU plans to lift an arms embargo on China. Washington does not share the Europeans’ apparent willingness to at least talk with militant Islamic groups such as Hamas.
But fears that the 25-member EU was putting itself up as a counterweight to the American superpower, which once produced so much anger here, appear to be in remission.
“I do not have the sense that Europeans are crystallizing views ... in the direction of a Europe which must be a competitor to the United States,” the administration official said.
“While recognizing that the Europeans are going through a rough patch right now internally, I think I am reasonably optimistic about the US-European future.”—AFP
