The internal strife emanating throughout Europe is
transforming the union into a concord of disharmony. In streets and city
squares, hoards of protesters commune to aim their vitriol at lacklustre
governments and impugned banks. The years of cheap credit and profligacy have
returned to haunt many nations as their debt-ridden treasuries have been forced
to implement austerity measures in return for financial bailouts. In Madrid,
protesters known as los indignados
(meaning ‘the outraged’) have occupied the Puerta del Sol, rejecting the
punishing measures accepted by its government. Meanwhile in Athens, Syntagma
Square has seen months of violent clashes between riot police and demonstrators,
as the Greek government implemented tough austerity measures in return for EU
loans. Dublin, Lisbon, London and Rome have also seen a surge in protests and
occupy movements, all in reaction to the prospect of cuts to welfare and an
unreformed financial sector. What is most noticeable about the swelling in anger
is the increasing distrust and hostility between nations. Germany, the central
political and economic power is increasingly being slurred with Nazi
characterisations, as it forces the ‘feckless’ Greeks to accept the tranches of
bailout money. The open antagonism between the prudent Northern Europeans and
their reckless Southern cousins is opening tensions to the sustainability of
the whole fiscal and political union.
Yet as the continuous infighting continues, many of Europe’s
other countries are beginning to lose sight of the European dream. Welcomed in
from beyond the frosty realms of the Iron Curtain, Eastern Europe is
discovering that the party they thought that was inviting is not as welcoming
as they previously thought.
Many policy chiefs in the corridors of power of Brussels believed
that a larger political union would create a stronger economic union. To an
extent they were correct; here was the world’s largest and most successful
internal market. All countries from the Eastern bloc yearned to join; even some
North African countries sought membership. The European Union had the benefits
of close political and defensive ties with America, multilateralism and a form
of welfare capitalism. How the tides of fortune have ebbed away.
Countries that EU technocrats may have one day expected to
join are weighing up their options. Georgia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan resent
Europe’s hesitancy and hypocrisy. In fact, the West’s biggest proponent in the former
Soviet bloc, President Saakashvili of Georgia, could flout the constitutional
rules and run again for Presidency in 2013. Why should any of these countries
listen to hedonistic messages of prudence when the European Central Bank is
printing money to buy debt from its own shambolic economies? Even Hungary, an
EU member, is flouting union rules over budget-deficit targets and media
freedom. Turkey appeared to go cold over Europe many years ago. Russia is happy
to see former satellite states return to the fold.
What about that great American hope? The US was once the
Baltic States biggest and most loyal admirer. Countries like Poland were
steadfast in their support of NATO and happy to commit men on the ground in war
zones. Not to mention America’s new missile defence shield, to the chagrin of
Russia. Yet, American foreign policy is heading west once again. The geopolitical
and economic shift to Asia is seeing American strategy head towards the Pacific
and the emerging markets. No longer is Europe the primary frontier. Obama’s
decision to abandon the shield and along with the EU’s inexistent foreign
policy is turning the once idealistic Poles and Czechs into hardnosed endorsers
of Realpolitik.
The EU’s decision to prevent the Euro from failing
will see a new era of internal relations. Closer fiscal relationships will
only mean tougher stances on imprudence. The collective voices of the right in
Northern Europe will no longer tolerate the spending cultures of countries like
Italy and Greece. EU expansion will certainly be welcoming to countries of the Balkans but it might not be as jovial as they thought.
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