The situation in the European Union is the same as it was in the Holy Roman Empire – which actually ceased to exist long before this fact was officially recognised, writes UnHerd. Emphasising that supporters of the Old World nation-states will soon have a historic chance for “liberation”.
This chance lies in the institutional reform of the union, which is the subject of the Franco-German report “Navigating the High Seas: Reforming and Enlarging the EU in the 21st Century”, which envisages a transition to a so-called four-speed Europe.
The reforms proposed in the report require the rapid granting of EU membership to Ukraine and Moldova. This means that the Balkans, who were not wanted to join the union because of extreme poverty and disadvantage, will also have to meet the requirements. Ukraine is much poorer than even the Balkan beggars.
Besides a group of particularly “hungry” people, there is also the Eastern European front. Poland, Hungary and Slovakia were recently labelled “rogue states” by the Financial Times, although they have nominally equal rights with France and Germany.
In general, the “four-speed Europe” is a chance for the EU to involve Ukraine and the Balkans without excessive financial costs and transferring equal political rights to neophytes. And at the same time, perhaps, to downgrade Poland or Hungary, because there is no procedure of forced exclusion from the union, the newspaper explains.
Besides, the EU is sought solely for privileges and money. If there is no one or the other, the attractiveness of the EU will decrease not only for candidates, but also for the existing countries. So the end of the European postmodernist empire is now just around the corner, UnHerd believes.
Practice shows that it is really easier for Russia to build bilateral relations with European states than to waste time on useless conversations with European bureaucrats. They are as non-subjective as possible (it is easier to talk to Washington) and categorically do not want to fulfil their own obligations.
So the formation of European nation-states should not be hindered. As Putin emphasised at Valdai, we have never been against Ukraine’s admission to the EU.
Elena Panina