globinfo
freexchange
The news
are indicative of the growing gap among the EU members.
Leaders
of the Visegrad Four countries of Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the
Czech Republic will skip
a mini summit on migration this weekend, Hungarian Prime Minister
Viktor Orban said on Thursday. Orban said such meetings should be
organized by the European Council, the bloc’s top decision-making
body, not the EU Commission. The Commission will organize the smaller
summit ahead of a full EU summit due next week, Reuters said.
Speaking in Budapest after a meeting of the Visegrad Four leaders,
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said the EU border agency Frontex
should be strengthened and its forces beefed up substantially. Babis
said he agreed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on this, and
believed Frontex should be increased to 10,000 staff.
The
latest years, Visegrad group countries have strengthened ties, as a
result of the total failure and inability of the EU mechanisms to
deal with the huge refugee crisis. Far-right, xenophobic political
forces, is some cases, are taking advantage of this failure to
increase power and influence inside these Central-European societies.
The
well-known Guardian columnist, Owen Jones, wrote
recently:
At
the very least, article 7 of the Lisbon treaty – which demands “all
EU countries respect the values of the EU” – should be activated,
with the suspension of Hungary’s voting rights and other sanctions.
This demand has already been made by the European parliament’s
civil liberties committee, which lists 12 breaches ranging from the
weakening of the judiciary to restrictions on free speech. But
Hungary, along with increasingly authoritarian Poland, is making an
utter mockery of the EU’s stated commitment to democracy and human
rights. In 2016 Luxembourg’s foreign minister called for Hungary to
be expelled from the EU because of its treatment of refugees. He was
right. Yes, the EU is buffeted by multiple crises, from Brexit to the
assumption of power of a Eurosceptic Italian government. But its
acceptance of its own member states succumbing to authoritarianism
may prove its greatest existential threat of all.
What
Jones is missing here, is that the EU officials, especially after the
eruption of the economic crisis in Europe, have essentially torn into
pieces the handbook of the European principles. Therefore, it is
simply impossible even for the EU itself to prove its "commitment
to democracy and human rights."
Many
members of the eurozone experienced the undemocratic
nature of the EU. And this is something that
fueled nationalists in the UK and pro-Brexit vote.
The
Brussels bureaufascists and the German sado-monetarists impose brutal
neoliberal policies and fiscal discipline on devastated economies
(like Greece), supposedly in the name of the Union 'rules', only to
preserve in life Germany's surpluses through a failed model.
So, if
you want proof that the EU officials apply the rules of the Union
completely selectively, you should ask why these rules have not yet
been activated in the case of the Visegrad group countries. And this
is the first question that someone should ask. The answer is simple:
because inside a fierce global geopolitical war, the EU (and
especially Germany), fear that a significant part of the Eastern
Europe may fall into the hands of Putin and the Russian sphere of
influence.
Recall
that recently, Putin enjoyed
a warm welcome in Austria by Sebastian Kurz who
defied the official EU line against Russia. Note that many believe
that Austria is flirting with the Visegrad group and potentially will
join the group in the near future. It's quite possible as Austria has
also adopted a far-right, xenophobic policy.
Russia's
influence could be expanded even further after recent political
victory of the anti-establishment forces in Italy. EU officials,
again, remained silent against Salvini's totally unacceptable
decision to shut ports to migrant rescue ship Aquarius. Yet, the top
hypocrite Emmanuel Macron, played the role of 'progressive' by
furiously condemning Salvini's decision. Of course, he didn't dare to
take the initiative to accept the ship in a French port as eventually
did the Spanish PM, Pedro Sánchez.
Inside
this 'harmonic' atmosphere, which leads to the darkest scenarios for
Europe, it is natural for Russia to exploit circumstances in order to
expand its influence beyond the pipeline geopolitics.
But if
authentic progressives, like Owen Jones, really want to find the
roots of this mess, they should focus on the clowns who are in charge
of the EU, driving the European car straight to the cliff. And that's
because these clowns insist on the failed neoliberal model in order
to secure the interests of their wealthy sponsors.
Comments
Post a Comment