Finns floodlight EU's foreign policy fiasco!

Just look at this item in today's papers:

EU urges talks with Hezbollah to resolve crisis

By Judy Dempsey International Herald Tribune Published: August 10, 2006 Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja of Finland, speaking for the European Union presidency, called Thursday for direct talks with Hezbollah, which is regarded by the United States and Israel as a terrorist organization responsible for the latest Middle East crisis. "Obviously, if you want an end to the fighting and have any lasting political agreement, Hezbollah has to be a party to it," Tuomioja said in a telephone interview from Cairo. "Hezbollah is part of the Lebanese Parliament and government." Washington and Israel have repeatedly asked the EU to put Hezbollah on its list of terrorist organizations and to stop all funding of Hezbollah by sympathetic charities or other groups. But Tuomioja, who has the task of presenting a common European foreign policy on the crisis, said the EU's main priority was to try to obtain a permanent and effective cease-fire. That meant involving all the parties.......... (for full article click here) What if the Foreign Minister of Finland now decides to fly off and meet with the Hezbollah leadership? How can 25 European countries, some supposedly mature democracies, have put themselves in such a mess that such confusion can even be raised in a respected journal such as the International Herald Tribune?