KARACHI, Sept 28: The European Union wishes to see stability in Pakistan out of both humanitarian and geopolitical concerns and hence this country features prominently in the bloc's foreign policy considerations.

Former foreign secretary and seasoned diplomat Najmuddin Shaikh said this during a lecture held at the University of Karachi on Tuesday. Organised by the KU's Area Study Centre for Europe, the lecture was titled 'Recent trends in the internal and external policies of the European Union'.

“Pakistan is seen as a [source of] potential instability. Its stability is seen as vital out of humanitarian and geopolitical considerations. It features importantly in the EU's foreign policy calculations. This trend has been continuing since 2001”, said Mr Shaikh.

He observed that for the EU to have a successful foreign policy there must be coherence within the union's member states. He added that amongst the EU's policymakers there was the belief that the bloc “was punching below its weight”, especially at forums such as the G8 and G20.

“National interest has to give way to European interest”, said the former ambassador, adding that nationalism within the individual countries was a major factor in the inability of the formulation of a unified foreign policy.

Najmuddin Shaikh said that in areas other than the economy, Europe had progressed much faster, yet there were questions being raised about the sustainability of the union itself as well as the viability of maintaining the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

Mr Shaikh said that a prominent American scholar had recently observed that “Europe is dying, slowly and steadily” while another question being raised was “should Nato survive?” He said that Nato's overseas operations were “less than successful”, specifically giving the example of Afghanistan.

The speaker said that overall Europe was reducing its defence expenditure due to the economic recession. As for Turkey's prospects of joining the EU, Mr Shaikh said these were slim, hence the Turks were “looking eastwards” to forge relationships.

Speaking of the economy of Europe, Mr Shaikh said there was the realisation that you cannot have a single monetary policy without harmonising budgets. He added that disparities in the economies of the more developed countries in the union compared to the newer entrants were “enormous”.

He said moves to improve the economy in the bloc seemed to be going in the right direction; whether they would succeed remains to be seen. He added that unemployment in Europe remains high.QAM