CONFLICTED IN THE UNION
MIROSŁAW PIOTROWSKI
Political movements demanding democratization of the Union are growing in power
Conflict is becoming the synonym of the European Union. The conflict concerns big and small EU countries which are quarrelling about more or less important matters, that is, the substantial and technical ones. Whereas the situation was to be so beautiful….
Allegedly, it is years since we have been united in our variety which guarantees peace in the world. There has not been the third war of the global range, while a few years ago the perky European Union received the Noble Award of Peace.
At present, although we still present the European project as the project of peace, work has been begun to establish a separate EU army of NATO. However, there is no agreement on it. The main inhibiting factor is Great Britain which will probably wave a handkerchief at us from La Manche Canal in about two years’ time. Will it heal the Union crawling in the conflict? I doubt. Energetic solidarity written in the Lisbon Treaty turned out to be fictional and building another thread Nord Stream 2 causes conflicts. In western countries, for example, in France, Germany or Holland political movements demanding democratization of the Union are growing in power. In mentioned Holland, on the wave of these slogans, in a referendum possibility of ratification of the loudly-proclaimed agreement UE-Ukraine was rejected. Indeed the prime minister Mark Rutte announced that his country would not block this agreement but it demanded adding an appendix to it, which, in fact, was to negate the sense of the agreement. It causes something more than discontent in central-eastern EU countries. The latter ones, like Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are attacked verbally by prime ministers of Greece and Italy, and also Germany for the lack of readiness for letting in immigrants. There is also entanglement of Austria. The same reason put Denmark in conflict with Sweden, which suspended the direct rail connections among capitals and prolong the suspension of functioning of the Schengen sphere.
To add to it, Greece got conflicted with Germany because of the financial crisis (vide burning the puppet of Angela Merkel in the streets of Athens), and now with the whole EU panel. Under the ending agreement EU-Turkey, refugees getting to Greece should be sent back to Turkey. The Greek authorities, however, do not want to acknowledge what Brussels demands from them, mainly acknowledging Turkey as ‘the third safe country’. They also accuse the Union of helplessness. The chief of the German Foreign Affairs criticized the Greek authorities publicly for ‘breaching the agreement about refugees’. Politicians point to hypocrisy of the Union which, depending on the situation, uses double standards. The example are continuous instructions and scolding about alleged breaching of democratic standards, addressed against the Polish authorities by both the European Commission and the European Parliament. The chief of the liberals Guy Verhofstadt from Belgium has been demanding implementation of the article 7 of the Treaty about EU, leading to the suspense of the Polish voice in the EU Council, and during the last EP session in Strasburg, a resolution of a Dutch liberal MP about investigation of the rule of law in membership countries of EU. It is addressed against Poland and Hungary, and in the future other rightist, sorry – extremist, anti-democratic European governments. It does not smell with rhetoric of peace, which is, in fact, aimed at conflicting the Visegrad Group. The Union is trying to escape, still redefining its purposes. The base still remains the same. As the prime minister of France Laurent Fabius reminded, it is all about ‘respecting the human dignity’. But does it really concern the one, like in Holland or Belgium where euthanasia or abortion are allowed? There is no time to discuss these matters. More and more new contracts are to be signed, like CETA with Canada. Indeed it was blocked by Walonia in Belgium, but unsuccessfully. Soon the contract will get to parliaments in various countries and the European Parliament. Will it become the reason for other conflicts?
AA
„Niedziela” 46/2016