Erdogan's Work and von der Leyen's Contribution
German author Jens Berger on Turkey's sudden ok for Sweden's NATO accession – and the EU's double standards
»First open the way for Turkey’s accession to the European Union, and then we will open the way for Sweden [to join NATO]«,
was the full-throated tone from Ankara as recently as the weekend.
Less than 24 hours later, Erdogan cleared Sweden’s way into NATO without opening a path for Turkey into the EU. Second-rate theater. It is clear even to Erdogan that Turkey has no realistic EU accession prospects. Strangely enough, the rules that bar Turkey’s way into the EU apparently do not apply to any other country. Thus, hardly a day goes by when the EU Commission does not offer Ukraine the hope of joining the EU in the near future. According to EU Commission President von der Leyen, there is “no doubt” that Ukraine will soon join the EU. Anyone who turns the accession criteria themselves into a farce need not be surprised if others turn them into a bargaining chip in a second-rate theater.
By Jens Berger, July 11, 2023 (first published in German at NachDenkSeiten) – English Translation by DeepThought
There are two ways to characterize the EU. On the one hand, there is the idealized way, which is often found in Sunday speeches and in their self-description in flowery phrases. According to this, the EU is a community of values whose goals are the promotion of peace, freedom, the rule of law, democracy, social justice and much more. If one were to throw five euros into the phrase bank for each of these terms during a keynote speech by Ursula von der Leyen, it would certainly pay for a Romanian migrant worker at Tönnies for a year.
On the other hand, there is the cynically realistic way in which one could describe the EU – as a neoliberal construct that knows how to artfully undermine democratic processes to the detriment of the general public, and which allows itself to be dragged on the nose ring through the geopolitical arena by the USA. How you characterize the EU is, of course, up to you.
Regardless of whether one characterizes the EU in idealizing or cynical-realistic terms, one thing is certain: Neither Turkey nor Ukraine are likely to have any prospects for accession if the EU treaties are taken even remotely seriously. Both countries have massive democratic deficits, open military conflicts within their state borders, and massive problems with corruption at all levels. Ukraine, by the way, ranks 116 on the Corruption Perceptions Index, even worse than Turkey, which ranks 101, and is the second most corrupt country in Europe – only Russia is more corrupt. Even Kosovo, which is rightly denied EU candidate status because of its corrupt structures, is still well ahead of Ukraine at rank 84.
Moreover, both Turkey and Ukraine have economic figures that make accession to the single market seem completely absurd. This applies even more to Ukraine than to Turkey. In 2022, Turkey still had a GDP per capita of $10,700 – almost 50 percent less than Romania, which, at $14,850, is the poorest EU country. In 2021, before the invasion, Ukraine had a GDP of $4,830, which is less than one-third of Romania’s figure. Ukraine’s economic level is about the same as Guatemala’s. Could you imagine Germany, France, or Denmark meaningfully forming a single market with Guatemala, with freedom of movement of persons, freedom of movement of goods, freedom of movement of services, and freedom of movement of capital?
Probably not.
The fact that Ukraine actually received official EU candidate status last June is therefore also completely inexplicable if one characterizes the EU in the idealistic way. In this idealized EU, Ukraine would not have the slightest chance of ever being able to join the EU because of the massive obvious deficits at every conceivable level. If one looks at it cynically and realistically, however, the perspective looks different. As soon as the open war with Russia is over, Ukraine, with its 36 million inhabitants, will be a neo-liberal, picture-perfect marsupial country – right on the EU’s borders. Meanwhile, production costs in Poland and Hungary are too high? Great! Ukraine, with its average income of $291 per month, is somewhere between Indonesia and Vietnam in international comparison – which, by the way, is less than half the Turkish figure. Romanian and Bulgarian truck drivers and meat cutters will then have competition – and the retail trade will be happy, too, because it will once again be able to offer delicious Schnitzel for three Euros a kilo.
That’s cynical? Of course it is. The entire discussion about Ukraine’s possible accession to the EU is cynical. It is even highly cynical that the EU Commission is simply wiping away all the reasons that make Ukraine’s EU accession seem completely absurd and is instead pressing the accelerator pedal so that full membership does not seem out of the question as early as 2025. Just to remind you: Turkey has been an official candidate country since 1999, and EU membership for Turkey is – rightly – currently considered illusory, even in the long-term perspective. What is allowed to the Jupiter Zelenskyy is far from being allowed to the ox Erdogan. (»Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi.«)
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Link to the original article in German.
Final note: The question to ask here is, who has the power to put such pressure on Erdogan to toe the line within 24 hours – and throw Turkish interests overboard in the process? Any suggestions?
About the author:
Jens Berger is a freelance journalist and political blogger of the first hour and editor-in-chief of the NachDenkSeiten. He deals with and comments on social, economic and financial policy issues. Berger is the author of several non-fiction books, such as “Der Kick des Geldes” (2015) and the Spiegel bestseller “Wem gehört Deutschland?” (2014).