Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Fouéré. I confess that because of the political problems witnessed in the Chamber I have been distracted and have not managed to read the bulk of the documentation, which I should and normally do. I apologise to Mr. Fouéré.

Members of this committee have travelled to countries to examine what was happening in them. I have a very fond relationship with Albania, so it sticks in my memory. When we were in Albania and Macedonia earlier this year the politicians were working extremely hard to comply with all the criteria as laid down by the EU. They were extremely anxious to move closer to Europe. In fact, we were there when they received recognition from the EU that they had passed, and they were overjoyed. There has been a change of government, which has resulted in a more progressive, stable and open form of government. In his classification of countries, Mr. Fouéré states that Albania and Serbia are the better of the four. I concur, having been in Bosnia-Herzegovina many years ago. The biggest disappointment to me as an individual citizen and as a politician is that progress has not been made there. Would Mr. Fouéré concur with me that ample warnings were given about the European Union's response to what was evolving in Bosnia-Herzegovina, with the three power blocs - the Bosnians, the Serbs and the Croats - dividing the authority among themselves? People felt that the peacekeeping missions were there for a long time. The theory was that, as Croatia had aspired to membership and ultimately become a member, Serbia and possibly Kosovo would follow suit. Four years ago some speakers who appeared before the committee told us that things were stagnating and going backwards. Does Mr Fouéré see grounds for us in the EU to be critical of ourselves, particularly with regard to what has happened in Bosnia-Herzegovina?

When we were in Macedonia we got the feeling that people there wanted to move forward. Mr. Fouéré placed Macedonia alongside Bosnia-Herzegovina. I do not know enough about Macedonia to know of its intent to move forward. In the case of Albania, it was fascinating that, notwithstanding the issues with regard to the rule of law and the allegations about criminality, they did mount - and it was not for our eyes - a major raid on a core of criminal gangs who were operating in the farmland. A very powerful message was sent out to criminals that the government was on board. I hope that Serbia, which is to take up the chairmanship of the OSCE in 2015, will use the role to progress development in that area.

May I conclude with a question on the role of President Putin of Russia? I note Mr Fouéré's expertise on Macedonia, which is to hold an election at the end of this month. To what does he apportion blame for the evolution of what is almost a new cold war with Russia? In his opinion, is Europe's relationship with NATO moving at such a pace as to make President Putin more and more insecure, hence the obvious escalation that will blow any day now in eastern Ukraine, with a huge influx of military equipment and troops? Is Europe responsible in any way for the heightening of tensions and the loss of Crimea to Russia? I am sure Mr. Fouéré is familiar with these frozen conflicts because of the situation in Moldova and so on. I am trying to get a balanced understanding of the role of Russia and whether it is being provoked. Is it a case of its recognising its inferiority as a world power?