What worried European politicians who spoke about the crisis of the European Union?
During the week, two European policy heavyweights started talking about the crisis of the European Union. The first to do this was European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Speaking on Wednesday in the European Parliament with a report on the situation in the EU, Juncker said that the European Union is experiencing an existential crisis. Two days later, German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave a similar assessment to European affairs. On Friday, arriving in Bratislava for the EU summit, Merkel told reporters simply, without the philosophical delights of a Brussels colleague: the European Union is in a critical situation.
National interests and common European goals
Angela Merkel's score was directly correlated with the upcoming British exit from the European Union. After all, the situation in the EU after Brexit, it was necessary to discuss the European leaders at the Bratislava summit. It seems that the German Chancellor has already begun to annoy the lack of negotiability of a number of EU Heads of State on economic, security, migration and the fight against terrorism.
The statement by the contender for the presidency of France, Marine Le Pen, on the eve of the summit, was added to the European leaders of headaches. Within the walls of the European Parliament, Le Pen announced that if she wins the presidential election, she will hold a referendum on secession from the EU in the country, as the British did.
According to Marine Le Pen, the French themselves must decide whether they want to stay or leave the European Union. And let the sounded statement relate to a relatively distant perspective, disintegration mood after Brexit can not help but worry European leaders. It is not by chance that Jean-Claude Juncker in his parliamentary speech, as if reassuring himself and the deputies listening to him, repeated several times, like a mantra: nothing "threatens the future existence of the European Union."
However, the crisis in the Union Juncker recognized and even gave him his volumetric assessment - existential. This means that today Europeans have been overcome by doubt in the meaning and purpose of the existence of the European Union, which has given rise to concern about its future and serious psychological discomfort.
According to the head of the European Commission, the leaders of the EU countries are too fixated on national interests and often “do not have a common vision for overcoming economic stagnation, a crisis with refugees and the threat of terrorism.” Juncker’s conclusion to Brexit is not directly related, but he agrees with Chancellor Merkel’s assessment that there is less understanding and agreement in the European Union.
Confirmation was not long in coming. In his speech in the European Parliament, Jean-Claude Juncker proposed, in particular, to form a single headquarters for his military operations in the EU. The initiative of the head of the European Commission was not born from scratch. Last March, he proposed to create a single European army. This idea then did not find much support.
This time, Juncker relied on the proposals of the heads of the military departments of France and Germany, Jean-Yves Le Drian and Ursula von der Lyayen, who were determined to develop their own defense policy of the European Union. This is also not a new initiative. Its author is the head of EU diplomacy Federica Mogherini. It was she who proposed to create in Brussels the joint headquarters of the command of civil and military operations of the European Union. In favor of the creation of a unified armed forces of the EU and the Visegrad Four countries (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic). In fact, Jean-Claude Juncker in his parliamentary speech launched the implementation of these initiatives ... and ran into a hard rebuke of the Lithuanians.
Lithuanian President Grybauskaite saw the threat of NATO in the military integration of the EU and made a special statement on the matter: “The position of Lithuania, the Baltic States and other countries is this: there can be no dubbing with NATO’s structures, and there can be nothing that could disprove or deny the presence of nato. We will block all such offers. ”
However, experts say that Grybauskaite just voiced the position of her overseas friends, who are concerned about the possible deepening of military cooperation in the EU and the creation of new military structures in Europe. According to the Americans, European countries should only increase their financial contribution to NATO, and this will increase their security.
Germany stop listening?
Nevertheless, military construction plans are not the main apple of contention in the EU countries. For years, the accumulated contradictions spilled out along with the flow of migrants to the continent. It should be recalled that the peak of this crisis came in the autumn of last year. Then the leaders of the leading countries of the Union insisted that the refugees register and provide them with content at the place of their arrival.
Most of the EU heads of state agreed with this approach, but this did not solve the problem, but only aggravated it. I had to look for other approaches. At the initiative of the head of the European Commission Juncker, an agreement was reached on the redistribution of thousands of refugees from the primary reception countries to other regions of the EU by 160. Approved the appropriate quota.
Protests by a number of governments immediately followed the decision. They tried not to notice them. European officials even cheerfully reported on the success of the resettlement of migrants. Against the background of a general decline in the flow of refugees, secured by the agreements with Turkey, this information looked quite reliable.
The general picture was periodically impacted by incidents between the local population and migrants, as well as publications that after registration in the EU countries in accordance with quotas, the immigrants soon found themselves in Germany. They joined the ranks of foreigners living here. As a result, the number of emigrants in Germany reached a historic maximum of 17,5 million. The Germans were worried. In addition, cases of direct clashes between migrants and local ones have become more frequent.
The situation cleared up after the problem had been studied by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). On Tuesday, September 13, it made available the data that Deutsche Welle then published. “To date, the member states of the European Union have distributed among themselves only 4776 asylum seekers from the primary reception countries - Greece and Italy, - shares UNHCR information. “This is only three percent of the number of 160 thousands planned a year ago.”
UNHCR spokesman William Spindler called these figures "quite unsatisfactory" and called for "greater solidarity and shared responsibility in Europe." The concerns of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees are easy to understand. Indeed, among this many thousands of "walking-fields", devoid of means and opportunities, a considerable number of minors arriving in Europe unaccompanied by adults, and families with children.
The fact that all is not well with the distribution of quotas for asylum seekers has been known for a long time. First of all, it is actively opposed by poor Eastern Europe. Hoping to stop the influx of illegal migrants into the country, Hungary even built a barbed wire barrier on the border with Serbia last fall.
This summer, the Hungarian authorities have initiated a referendum on the admissibility of the mandatory distribution of migrants across EU countries. He is scheduled for October 2. The question is formulated as follows: “Do you want the European Union to have the right to establish the mandatory resettlement of foreign citizens in Hungary without the consent of the [national] parliament?”
It is not difficult to predict what the result of the Hungarian vote will be. It has long been said in full voice: "The resettlement of migrants will radically change the cultural and religious identity of the country." Hungarians do not want this.
They believe the migration crisis is a problem in Germany, since it was Chancellor Angela Merkel who invited refugees to the continent. Now Merkel convinces compatriots of the correctness of his policy, pedaling the slogan: "We will cope." The rest of Europeans quietly sabotage her wishes and decisions of European officials to resettle migrants and put barriers in their way.
This parade of disobedience is actually the crisis of the European Union, about which Jean-Klad Junker and Angela Merkel spoke almost simultaneously. The time has not been forgotten when the German chancellor spoke on behalf of Europe, decided for the whole European Union and even assumed political responsibility. Now the familiar construction can be destroyed by a single statement by the President of Lithuania.
This is a new reality with which Europe is to live. Unconditional support for the policy of Germany, previously cemented European state association, remained in the past. The discord came. It will certainly seriously weaken the European Union. It remains only to believe the head of the European Commission that the future existence of the European Union is not in danger, and hope that European politicians will find a path to harmony. Russia will also benefit from this.
National interests and common European goals
Angela Merkel's score was directly correlated with the upcoming British exit from the European Union. After all, the situation in the EU after Brexit, it was necessary to discuss the European leaders at the Bratislava summit. It seems that the German Chancellor has already begun to annoy the lack of negotiability of a number of EU Heads of State on economic, security, migration and the fight against terrorism.
The statement by the contender for the presidency of France, Marine Le Pen, on the eve of the summit, was added to the European leaders of headaches. Within the walls of the European Parliament, Le Pen announced that if she wins the presidential election, she will hold a referendum on secession from the EU in the country, as the British did.
According to Marine Le Pen, the French themselves must decide whether they want to stay or leave the European Union. And let the sounded statement relate to a relatively distant perspective, disintegration mood after Brexit can not help but worry European leaders. It is not by chance that Jean-Claude Juncker in his parliamentary speech, as if reassuring himself and the deputies listening to him, repeated several times, like a mantra: nothing "threatens the future existence of the European Union."
However, the crisis in the Union Juncker recognized and even gave him his volumetric assessment - existential. This means that today Europeans have been overcome by doubt in the meaning and purpose of the existence of the European Union, which has given rise to concern about its future and serious psychological discomfort.
According to the head of the European Commission, the leaders of the EU countries are too fixated on national interests and often “do not have a common vision for overcoming economic stagnation, a crisis with refugees and the threat of terrorism.” Juncker’s conclusion to Brexit is not directly related, but he agrees with Chancellor Merkel’s assessment that there is less understanding and agreement in the European Union.
Confirmation was not long in coming. In his speech in the European Parliament, Jean-Claude Juncker proposed, in particular, to form a single headquarters for his military operations in the EU. The initiative of the head of the European Commission was not born from scratch. Last March, he proposed to create a single European army. This idea then did not find much support.
This time, Juncker relied on the proposals of the heads of the military departments of France and Germany, Jean-Yves Le Drian and Ursula von der Lyayen, who were determined to develop their own defense policy of the European Union. This is also not a new initiative. Its author is the head of EU diplomacy Federica Mogherini. It was she who proposed to create in Brussels the joint headquarters of the command of civil and military operations of the European Union. In favor of the creation of a unified armed forces of the EU and the Visegrad Four countries (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic). In fact, Jean-Claude Juncker in his parliamentary speech launched the implementation of these initiatives ... and ran into a hard rebuke of the Lithuanians.
Lithuanian President Grybauskaite saw the threat of NATO in the military integration of the EU and made a special statement on the matter: “The position of Lithuania, the Baltic States and other countries is this: there can be no dubbing with NATO’s structures, and there can be nothing that could disprove or deny the presence of nato. We will block all such offers. ”
However, experts say that Grybauskaite just voiced the position of her overseas friends, who are concerned about the possible deepening of military cooperation in the EU and the creation of new military structures in Europe. According to the Americans, European countries should only increase their financial contribution to NATO, and this will increase their security.
Germany stop listening?
Nevertheless, military construction plans are not the main apple of contention in the EU countries. For years, the accumulated contradictions spilled out along with the flow of migrants to the continent. It should be recalled that the peak of this crisis came in the autumn of last year. Then the leaders of the leading countries of the Union insisted that the refugees register and provide them with content at the place of their arrival.
Most of the EU heads of state agreed with this approach, but this did not solve the problem, but only aggravated it. I had to look for other approaches. At the initiative of the head of the European Commission Juncker, an agreement was reached on the redistribution of thousands of refugees from the primary reception countries to other regions of the EU by 160. Approved the appropriate quota.
Protests by a number of governments immediately followed the decision. They tried not to notice them. European officials even cheerfully reported on the success of the resettlement of migrants. Against the background of a general decline in the flow of refugees, secured by the agreements with Turkey, this information looked quite reliable.
The general picture was periodically impacted by incidents between the local population and migrants, as well as publications that after registration in the EU countries in accordance with quotas, the immigrants soon found themselves in Germany. They joined the ranks of foreigners living here. As a result, the number of emigrants in Germany reached a historic maximum of 17,5 million. The Germans were worried. In addition, cases of direct clashes between migrants and local ones have become more frequent.
The situation cleared up after the problem had been studied by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). On Tuesday, September 13, it made available the data that Deutsche Welle then published. “To date, the member states of the European Union have distributed among themselves only 4776 asylum seekers from the primary reception countries - Greece and Italy, - shares UNHCR information. “This is only three percent of the number of 160 thousands planned a year ago.”
UNHCR spokesman William Spindler called these figures "quite unsatisfactory" and called for "greater solidarity and shared responsibility in Europe." The concerns of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees are easy to understand. Indeed, among this many thousands of "walking-fields", devoid of means and opportunities, a considerable number of minors arriving in Europe unaccompanied by adults, and families with children.
The fact that all is not well with the distribution of quotas for asylum seekers has been known for a long time. First of all, it is actively opposed by poor Eastern Europe. Hoping to stop the influx of illegal migrants into the country, Hungary even built a barbed wire barrier on the border with Serbia last fall.
This summer, the Hungarian authorities have initiated a referendum on the admissibility of the mandatory distribution of migrants across EU countries. He is scheduled for October 2. The question is formulated as follows: “Do you want the European Union to have the right to establish the mandatory resettlement of foreign citizens in Hungary without the consent of the [national] parliament?”
It is not difficult to predict what the result of the Hungarian vote will be. It has long been said in full voice: "The resettlement of migrants will radically change the cultural and religious identity of the country." Hungarians do not want this.
They believe the migration crisis is a problem in Germany, since it was Chancellor Angela Merkel who invited refugees to the continent. Now Merkel convinces compatriots of the correctness of his policy, pedaling the slogan: "We will cope." The rest of Europeans quietly sabotage her wishes and decisions of European officials to resettle migrants and put barriers in their way.
This parade of disobedience is actually the crisis of the European Union, about which Jean-Klad Junker and Angela Merkel spoke almost simultaneously. The time has not been forgotten when the German chancellor spoke on behalf of Europe, decided for the whole European Union and even assumed political responsibility. Now the familiar construction can be destroyed by a single statement by the President of Lithuania.
This is a new reality with which Europe is to live. Unconditional support for the policy of Germany, previously cemented European state association, remained in the past. The discord came. It will certainly seriously weaken the European Union. It remains only to believe the head of the European Commission that the future existence of the European Union is not in danger, and hope that European politicians will find a path to harmony. Russia will also benefit from this.
Information