What shocks most, it is the feeling that the American administration can think that the Slovenes are going to obey them. However, Slovenia took the reins of the European Union by being conscious of the symbol which it represented: a former Yugoslav republic, now an independent state and EU member since 2004 can have the same importance as those of Western Europe.
And the message which is sent is even more irritating: “you are no longer part of the satellites of the USSR, therefore you are our satellites”. The European Union cannot accept that.
But who do the Americans think they are?
Following leakages in the press, the rumour gave a report on an American document given to the political director of the Foreign Affairs, Mitja Drobnič. The Slovenian daily newspaper Dnevnik had published the report of a confidential discussion between Mr. Drobnič and a high American diplomat. Mr. Drobnič confirmed the presumptions while resigning. In this document the American services recommended to recognise the independence of Kosovo…
This is only to say that the interference is total. This also raises the question what happened with previous presidencies of the European Union or if this type of behaviour takes place only with the former Eastern European countries.
In front of the leakages in the press, the President of the Slovenian Republic reacted in front of the national news agency (STA) by estimating that the image of the country “had been somewhat damaged”. However Slovenia has made serious efforts and demonstrated her will to form an integral part of the European Union, also by being the first new member state to adopt the €uro in 2007.
Moreover, this way of working is very “American”: when one reads for example the book of Arthur Mr. Jr. Schlesinger on the “1000 days of Kennedy”, the recommendations sent to the countries considered as “small” are common occurrences.
Albeit this event had been scarcely mentioned by the French press, the echoes were already made heard for example in Italy. This diplomatic scandal would deserve a different treatment.
Why we need a stronger Europe
The American attempts to influence the European policy shows that one of the current weaknesses of the European Union resides in the multiplicity of its interlocutors.
The diplomatic corps of the United States could not have been allowed to send the same type of “recommendations” if the European Union were a true political union. In a globalised world, it is increasingly urgent that the European Union becomes a true entity to acquire legitimacy on the international scene.
This shows also the urgency of less intergovernmentalism for Europe, because it is no longer a mere aggregation of states that has to be expressed but rather a coherent unit.
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