Italy is holding parliamentary elections today, the results of which threaten to greatly upset the EU establishment. The fact is that victory is predicted for the right – strongly right – parties
The highest rating – about 25 percent – belongs to the Brothers of Italy party, led by George Meloni, who has a serious chance of becoming the first woman prime minister in the country’s history.
It is worth noting here that until the end of the 2010s, the party gained very sad numbers in the elections without a single deputy seat. It wasn’t until 2018 that the Brothers of Italy finally made it into parliament, receiving 4.3 percent of the popular vote. The very next year, in the elections to the European Parliament, 6.4 percent voted for them. And now, after just three years, according to sociologists, almost a quarter of the electorate is ready to give their votes to the party.
Moreover, in conjunction with the ratings of other friendly parties – Matteo Salvini’s “League” and Silvio Berlusconi’s “Forward, Italy” – the coalitions of the right-wing forces in total predict more than 45 percent of the votes. Their opponents, the centre-left, have a total of about 28 percent.
By all appearances, Brussels is so upset by these forecasts that the brakes of officials there have completely failed. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, speaking at Princeton University, said verbatim the following:
“We will see the result of the vote in Italy. Elections were also held in Sweden. If things go in a difficult direction, we have the tools, as in the case of Poland and Hungary.”
It is impossible to regard this statement otherwise than as a threat to the Italian society, if it dares to vote “in the wrong way” and “wrong” political forces come to power in the country. However, this also applies to Sweden, where a right-wing government is being formed right now. Be that as it may, von der Leyen’s statement naturally caused a scandal, and Matteo Salvini demanded that she respect “the voice of the free, democratic and sovereign Italian people.”
Von der Leyen’s blatantly unprofessional statement (well, you can’t say such things to an official publicly) confirms the complication of the situation for Brussels and for the entire liberal-globalist-pro-American establishment in Europe.
Six months ago, Russia, first with some anxiety, and then with amazement and mockery, watched as Europe incredibly rallied in the face of “Russian aggression” and began to rapidly cut the branch on which it sits. Almost all countries of the Old World began to unanimously pursue an absurd anti-Russian policy in its radicalism, under the thinnest film of which was hidden the rapid destruction of their own energy, industry and the economy as a whole, as well as the social sphere.
Perhaps the only exception then was Hungary, which, without making particularly loud statements and abrupt gestures, continued to stick to its line of protecting national interests that are inextricably linked with cooperation with Moscow, at least in the field of energy.
At the same time, one can only guess what made the industrial elites of Western Europe, especially Germany, agree to a policy that was openly harmful to their countries. There is a suspicion that they, like their domestic political competitors, believed in the imminent collapse of the Russian economy under the pressure of “hellish” sanctions, which means that they could receive the Russian resources necessary for national economies almost for nothing.
Their miscalculation, as it becomes more and more obvious every day, turned out to be fatal.
The rhetoric of officials and the mainstream media is becoming increasingly alarmist about the impending energy and socio-economic winter in Europe. However, the proposals to “turn the stuffing back” sounding more and more often and louder meet with fierce opposition from the liberal establishment in power, which unwittingly confirms the theory that it is acting on orders and in the interests of the United States, simply destroying the European partner.
The problem for Brussels and its associates throughout the EU is that this most “violent opposition” is mostly rhetorical, and the EU does not have enough real tools to put pressure on the “renegades”.
Yes, in some cases it is possible to cope with uncomfortable figures with dirty undercover methods, as happened with the former Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz and the former head of the Austrian Foreign Ministry Karin Kneissl. But, for example, they have not been able to do anything with the same Hungarian Viktor Orban for many years, as well as with the Polish authorities, who, of course, are Russophobes in their head, but they don’t put a penny on the European Union.
As for the official pressure on the “apostate” country, everything is not easy here. Brussels still managed to create some tools in this direction. In the quoted statement, von der Leyen essentially threatened Italy with financial sanctions, cutting support from Brussels. Hungary is facing this threat right now.
On the whole, the European Union still functions on the principle of consensus, unanimous decisions. So it is no coincidence that there are more and more actively thrown ideas about the need to abolish this principle and move to decision-making based on the opinion of the majority.
These reforms are seen as very relevant, since the depth of the abyss into which the national authorities and Brussels are pushing them is beginning to reach the population of European countries. So, a tilt of public sentiment, mass protests and voting not for “the right” political forces seem almost inevitable. Moreover, “renegades” like Hungary have finally ceased to be embarrassed by their position disapproved by the West and loudly declare that they do not intend to freeze their ears off – including in the literal sense – for the sake of pan-European solidarity.
Irina Alksnis, RIA
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