Analysis: With effort, Europe can still be the solution By JAVIER SOLANA Published on Saturday 9 June 2012 00:00 THE European project is shaking. I am confident that the eurozone's ongoing sovereign debt crisis will be overcome, and that a more integrated and effective Europe will emerge. But to get to that improved Europe, not only must the sovereign debt crisis be resolved but relations with three major countries to Europe's east - Turkey, Russia, and Ukraine - will also need to be put on a more secure footing. I was of the generation in my country that lived through the transition from dictatorship to democracy four decades ago. For us, the European Union was a dream. Indeed, we used to quote Ortega y Gasset: "If Spain is the problem, Europe is the solution." I continue to believe that Europe is the solution, particularly for societies that need to deepen - if not establish - a democratic tradition. Closer relations between Europe and Turkey, Russia, and Ukraine can deliver for them many of the same benefits that we in Spain always associated with Europe. Turkey is already a candidate for membership, but accession negotiations are moving very slowly. This is strategically unwise, because Turkey's authority in the wider Middle East is vitally important to Europe. From Syria to the Arab Spring countries, Turkey's influence is significant, and further co-operation with the EU can only prove beneficial. The debate around Turkish membership is set to become hotter in the second half of this year, when Cyprus assumes the EU's rotating presidency. Turkey, to be blunt, will not recognise today's divided Cyprus as the sole representative of that island. Further complicating matters is the discovery of oil close to the Cypriot coast. Anyone planning to drill there will become embroiled in a major maritime dispute, with Cyprus claiming the reserves lie within its territorial waters, and Turkey countering that Cyprus has no territorial waters, as to the Turks, Cyprus does not exist. Russia has become a different type of complicating factor for Europe. In the next few days, the formation of Russia's new government will reveal much about power relations between conservatives and liberals. Notably, billions of dollars of public property are at stake, owing to a privatisation plan designed by former president Dimitri Medvedev. On this issue, the EU has a framework -the Partnership for Modernisation, negotiated with Medvedev - that could potentially be very positive. Russia's accession to the World Trade Organisation in 2011 should also help to ensure that it plays by international rules. Given the scale of Ukraine's current problems and its dysfunction, a solution may not yet be available. I was involved in the negotiations that helped to bring about a peaceful resolution of the Orange Revolution of 2004-05. But subsequent infighting between the revolution's leaders, Yulia Tymoshenko and Viktor Yushchenko, was so destructive that Viktor Yanukovych, whose efforts to manipulate the 2004 presidential election incited the revolution, is now president and Tymoshenko is in jail. For the EU, Ukraine continues to be a serious problem. A comprehensive free-trade and association agreement with the EU remains unsigned, though there is still hope that simple realism will persuade Yanukovych and Ukraine's ruling elite to return to a path that would allow for the agreement to be signed. Europe's soft power has changed many things in many countries over the past two decades. It can continue to do so in Turkey, Russia, and Ukraine - or, through inattention and inaction, Europe could lose credibility, influence, and economic opportunities. Javier Solana is a former foreign minister of Spain, secretary-general of Nato, and EU High Representative for foreign and security policy.