An emergency EU meeting Monday in Brussels on how to respond to Russia's recognition of the Georgian breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia could be instrumental in confirming the EU as a force for peace. With the United States taking a diplomatic back seat on the crisis and the swift reaction by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, acting as EU president, Monday's summit has become the union's first opportunity to broker a solution to a major international conflict on its own. But the opportunity is mined with potential pitfalls and risks, not least of which is the traditional EU dilemma of getting a group of 27 nations to agree on a common policy. And because the policy involves Russia, the potential for disagreement is enormous.
With the United States taking a diplomatic back seat on the crisis and the swift reaction by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, acting as EU president, Monday's summit has become the union's first opportunity to broker a solution to a major international conflict on its own.
But the opportunity is mined with potential pitfalls and risks, not least of which is the traditional EU dilemma of getting a group of 27 nations to agree on a common policy. And because the policy involves Russia, the potential for disagreement is enormous.
