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This year, 2017 is perhaps the most important one for the continent. Europe has reached its boiling point and there is no way back. The enormous political, economic and social division is not a result of random events although. Today's European crisis proved that the European elite don't know how to handle big crisis. Their response was late, weak and inadequate. The European leadership failed in every part of the risk management. Pre-crisis measures didn't exist and the reactive response to evens like refugee crisis were a mess. The truth is that European leaders didn't feel the pulse of their own people. They have preferred to protect their old doctrines and that's how the idea of 'Europe on different speeds' was born.
The European establishment is turning blind eye to the big abyss lying between it and the European people. And they even pretend that a division between the EU-members doesn't exist. It's so naive for us to believe that the people who are responsible for the current situation in Europe are the ones who are going to solve it. Europe needs new faces, new policy, new treaties and new way of thinking.
The two major geopolitical events EU didn't address adequately were crisis in Ukraine and the Syrian war. These conflicts have proved that EU's policy is slow and inadequate.
Europe didn't address the situation in Ukraine correctly since the very beginning of conflict. Evens in Ukraine and Crimea have proven that Europe was totally dependent on Obama's policy. Then US administration needed a conflict with Russia and EU blindly followed that line. Today, from the distance of time, we can conclude that EU sanctions on Russia are ineffective - they couldn't achieve their strategic objective. These sanctions had a negative impact on some European countries, and they have fueled divide between nations. But Brussel's message was clear - 'sanction Russia or suffer'. So all member states obeyed.
The second crisis that EU didn't properly respond to was the Syrian war and the ongoing processes in Middle East. The EU was wrong on Syria since the beginning of the conflict in 2011. The European leadership blindly followed (again) Obama's policy of ousting Assad at any cost. There were a few important questions that've never been addressed
- What would happen if Assad is removed from power?
- What was the face of the so-called 'opposition' and what would happen if the Islamic rebels take over Damascus?
So, when groups like Islamic State and Al Qaeda in Syria have been marching on the Syrian streets, EU was busy of screaming the song of the bad dictator.
That reminds us of how Gaddaffi was taken out - he was disgracefully killed on the streets. Gaddafi's death must've been the red lamp for European leaders. Today Libya is still torn apart from infighting between two different governments and several terrorist organizations including Islamic State. A mess created with the help of EU.
The European establishment have shown total inability to handle events like big refugee crisis. Back in 2012 - 2013 was clear that Europe will face a huge refugee wave. Everyone who had the guts to talk about real measures against the possible terrorist infiltration of these migrant waves, have been slandered. Merkel's 'Come to us' policy was the culprit of EU's failed policy on Middle East. After that phrase waves of terrorism have hit Europe - Paris killings, Brussels bombings, Berlin & Nice truck crashes, just to name a few.
The old European politicians have had enough time to prove their abilities to handle crisis and solve problems. They have failed big time. This must change. It is time for a new Europe. A Union that respects national countries and their people. New Europe must learn from EU's mistakes. Any attempts to assimilate sovereign countries are bound to fail. Empty promises, hollow phrases and mantras about the beautiful liberalism must remain in history.
The economic policy must be rewritten. If the European nations really want to have a strong and independent union, they must abandon the neoliberal economic policy. Europe must distance itself as far as possible from failed neoliberal politicians and economists. The concept of Euro as a common currency must be rethought. Financial crises in Italy and Greece and their poor management have proven that something in Eurozone is dangerously wrong. Central banks must return to their classic role of regulating market's imperfections. They need to assess and manage risk more effectively. Blind beliefs in free market theory with minimal regulations should be abandoned. Regular banks must return to the 'boring' policy of just giving credits and helping those who want to create real profit by producing real products. The policy of embracing financial speculators must be thrown out of the equation. This means that the state must return to economic life and to participate actively in it. Europe needs to resurrect its traditional industrial spirit and creativity.
The battle for a new Europe have already began. This battle is going to be tough and the European commission already strikes in against the 'enemy'. The establishment is trying to silence politicians like France's Marine Le Pen. Last week she lost her EU parliamentary immunity for showing the brutality of Islamic State on twitter. She actually has followed one of the principles of 'free Europe' - showing the truth by all means. So it's crime to show the truth, no matter how ugly it is? Actions against Le Pen are another example of how European leaders are afraid of truth. They have decided to take down the immunity of the French leader - a desperate move, aiming to distract European societies from the real problems.
The weakness of the European Union is due to the fact that it's leaders lacked the courage and political independence. Instead, they have decided to entrench themselves and start a war against politicians like Wilders, Le Pen and Orban. EU's desperate attempts to distract people from the real problems are doomed to failure. The European establishment will collapse sooner or later. A new, different Europe will rise from its debris.
Written by Borislav Boev; Appeared in Bulgarian at A-sepcto; Translated to Englsih by the author for SouthFront
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