Viliam Buchert on Europe's loss of significance

Former US secretary of State Henry Kissinger once quipped that he'd like just one telephone number for calling Europe. Viliam Buchert writes in the daily Mladá Fronta Dnes that with its new EU foreign minister Catherine Ashton Europe can finally be dialled direct: "But even if he can call us up, his call still won't settle a thing. ... The original goal of a common foreign and security policy was to make the EU a true global player. But what is the result? Notwithstanding all the effort and big words in the final documents of summit meetings, the continent is now weaker than ever. Outside its own territory the Union doesn't influence a thing in today's world. People still consider Europe a significant economic entity. But decisions that command respect are taken elsewhere. In the US, yes, and in recent times in China and perhaps soon in India or Brazil."

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