LETTER FROM EUROPE: Adios, Amigo
Gedmin, Jeffrey
LETTER FROM EUROPE JEFFREY GEDMIN Adios, Amigo 1 HEN JOSE LUIS RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO Spain's new prime minister, visite( Berlin this spring, Gerhan Schroeder's government and it allies in the...
...I love Europe of the museums and the coffeehouses, of the Alps and architecture, the languages and literature...
...If what Berlin and Paris want is clear, so are the means: Pursue a joint venture, consolidate Europe around the Franco- German core, and presto, with a "united Europe" you've become an actor on the world stage...
...The EU is not th( complete monster that some right-wing Britisl caricatures would have us believe...
...France has wanted to lead Europe forever, with two things forever standing in its way: American strength and French weakness...
...Ah, the progressiveness of European unity...
...attended a small lunch witl the former prime minister, Jos( Maria Aznar...
...Or something like that...
...Madrid had been guilty during the Aznar years of "national egotism"—what we might call independence and freedom of maneuver for the liberal democratic nation-state...
...Museum...
...During his eight years as prime minister, Spain lowered taxes, shed regulations, and experienced an economic boom...
...I love this Europe...
...I confess I love Europe...
...If you ask me, I have a feeling we're going to miss the moment and our amigo, Aznar...
...After the Popular Party's defeat, one Zapatero aide hurled the ultimate insult: Aznar had been a mouthpiece for "Thatcherism, more at home in Texas than in Brussels...
...I love Europe of the nation states, and what's coming is like ly to be trouble...
...When it comes to today's political Europe, though, I confess I feel pretty Tory...
...For lovers of cautious, gooey multilateralism—or those who think that we need a counterweight to American power—it all seems like a dream...
...LETTER FROM EUROPE JEFFREY GEDMIN Adios, Amigo 1 HEN JOSE LUIS RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO Spain's new prime minister, visite( Berlin this spring, Gerhan Schroeder's government and it allies in the media could hardl: restrain themselves...
...Now enter Germany, equally fed up with being America's junior partner...
...Aznar, poor man, really was out of step with today's Europe...
...Aznar, Tony Blair, and the Poles were vilified in EU circles for having joined the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq...
...The new Spanish government, "just like Berlin," opined the paper, "has reaffirmed its commitment to multilateralism, and rather than obstruct, will now help promote the EU process and a Europe of social equality...
...And so more and more Germans appear ready to surrender to their own Gaullist impulses...
...They got the boot in elec tions just after terrorist attacked Spain on March 11...
...He was utterl' unapologetic, in a serene ZAPATERO ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS WARE JEFFREY GEDM N Thatcher sort of way, for his country's support of the Iraq war and his unambiguous Atlanticist stance...
...Berlin versus Bratislava...
...Okay, it may not become reality...
...Madrid had been guilty during the Aznar years of "national egotism"—what we might call independence and freedom of maneuver for the liberal democratic state...
...French President Jacques Chirac could hardly stand Aznar...
...the insipid sing-song that rolls off the tongues of sc many of our diplomats about the nee( for a united Europe, which will be stronger partner of the Unite( States...
...Any guess who will win this fight...
...You have to love the German Autobahn...
...Germany's chancellor called quickly for greater tax harmonization across the enlarged European Union...
...Mind you, I am not 42 THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR JUNE 2004 talking about the kooky British right, for which th( mere mention of Brussels elicits heavy breathing and the onset of convulsions...
...But then there...
...Speaking of socialist solidarity, another Zapatero aide calls Tony Blair "un gilipollas integral"—a complete dickhead...
...French President Jacques Chirac could hardly stand Aznar...
...As a key ally of the United States in Iraq, Spain raised its profile in Europe...
...Latin America and isolated the country inside the European Union...
...I suppose if I were French or German, I toomight be tempted by the EU's foreign policy idea...
...The German intelligentsia took its whacks, too...
...The new government must yearn for the low growth and double digit unemployment that Germany and France have become used to...
...Take that for getting in the way of the "European idea...
...A ligh mid-afternoon lunch by Spanish stan dards...
...With the Italians and other party poopers they did indeed divide Europe...
...Let's see what the pesky, pro-American Poles do now that they joined the EU...
...Who would decline a Budweiser, I mean, the real thing on tap in Prague...
...We met at a small hotel locate( behind the Hard Rock Cafe ii the center of the city, not fa from the Ritz and the Prad( .1111.4116...
...But then Tony Blair's recent decision to hold a national referendum on a European constitution was also condemned by EU types for being "unilateral...
...Bismarck once famously said, "You find Europe in the mouths of those politicians who want something, but dare not ask for it in their own name...
...Wer sind wieder wer"—"We're somebody again" is the Zeitgeist of the new Germany...
...Keep an eye on Tony Blair's UK...
...Okay, said Slovak officials, who asked why taxes could not be lowered across Euroland...
...The ten new countries that joined the EU on May 1 are expected to fall in line...
...If Europe still matters, we need all the friends we can get...
...Sorry, but I don't believ( it...
...Jeffrey Gedmin is director of the Aspen Institute Berlin...
...Aznar looke( C delle+e relaxed...
...The German intelligentsia took its whacks, too...
...I was in Madrid recently t( meet with leaders of the Popula Party...
...Aznar's record is not a bad one...
...JUNE 2004 THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR 43...
...That is, in the new EU we march as a group or we march not at all...
...Just remember, though, if the French and Germans had had their way, they would have steered a united Europe to block the United States and Saddam Hussein might still be in power today...
...There wen cheeses, oily and delicious Spanish ham, deep-fried balls o something or other, salads, and rare steaks washed downed with gen erous quantities of red wine...
...Wrote th( Berlin daily Tagesspiegel: "Aznar's attempt to position his country as the junior partner of the Bush administration damaged Spain's special relations with the Arab world, strained its relations with...
Vol. 37 • June 2004 • No. 5
