With French President Sarkozy having called an emergency EU summit to discuss Georgia, Europe’s finest diplomatic minds are now trying to decide what the leaders should actually talk about when they meet.
In the run-up to Russia’s invasion of Georgia, the EU sought to avoid the issue altogether. Much has been made of the diplomatic offensive undertaken by President Sarkozy and Angela Merkel, which brought to the fighting to an end. But Russian troops remain ensconced inside Georgia, against the spirit if not the actual letter of the EU-brokered six-point plan. So what can EU leaders now do?
Help is luckily at hand. My two colleagues Andrew Wilson and Nicu Popescu, who have both made a life out of studying Russia and its neighbourhood, have just published a paper with a number of ideas.
The EU, they argue, should follow up the six-point peace agreement with a comprehensive regional strategy for Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus.
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