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Slovenia’s presidency has been a DISASTER for the EU, shining
a light on the ‘West v the rest’ cultural divide like never before
16 Oct, 2021 10:08
Slovenia's Prime Minister Janez Jansa. © AFP / STEPHANIE LECOCQ
By Paul A. Nuttall, a historian, author and a former politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament between 2009 and 2019 and was a prominent campaigner for Brexit.
Western European countries are counting the days until Janez Janša’s reign as Council of EU president comes to an end. His time in the role has perfectly illustrated the massive differences that exist between the member states.
Since June, Slovenia has held the six-month presidency of the Council of the EU, which is fitting – or one could say ironic – because it coincides with the 30-year anniversary of the country’s independence.
The rotating nature of the presidency is meant to project a sense of unity and altruism; a statement that the European Union is a shared venture between willing and cooperating member states who hold the same values.
However, Slovenia’s presidency has done no such thing. Indeed, all it has achieved until now is to shine a light on the differences that exist between Eastern and Western Europe.
Slovenia’s Prime Minister Janez Janša has been a constant thorn in the side of the EU recently, and one suspects that Brussels cannot wait until his six-month term comes to an end on December 31.
The Slovenian presidency was not greeted with much enthusiasm in Brussels in the first place, as Janša was viewed as too authoritarian and populist, which is something the EU despises most of all.
Moreover, Janša’s closeness to Hungarian PM Viktor Orban, who is viewed as a bogeyman by the EU, has not endeared him to either the Brussels bureaucrats or Western European leaders. Orban, it seems, is in constant conflict with the EU on a whole range of issues, spanning from immigration policy to LGBT rights, and also press freedoms.
Regardless, Janša is undeterred and has spoken against the ostracisation of Orban, saying that “I think that he has the right to explain how he envisages the future of the European Union…if the debate on the future of the European Union excludes people in advance, then I think that the European Union will indeed continue to shrink (a reference to Brexit).”
Not only has Janša backed Orban, but he also supports Poland, which is, at present, in a dispute with Brussels over the primacy of EU law. Janša warned the EU back in late 2020 that “the ‘rule of law’ means that disputes are decided by an independent court and not by a political majority in any other institution…we need EU institutions that will not be involved in member states’ internal political conflicts.”
The Slovenian government also sees its Central European partners as its political kith and kin, and obviously feels increasingly out of step with the aggressive liberalism of Western Europe. Recently, Janša attended the Demographic Summit in Budapest, a gathering to promote family and Christian values, whilst rejecting the need for mass immigration into the continent.
Indeed, rather than allow for mass immigration, Janša argued that “we need to make it easier for young people to start families. We need to support the family as the fundamental unit of society.” This is not the sort of language that the largely atheist Brussels wants to hear from the president of the Council of the EU.
Moreover, the Slovenes have attempted to use their presidency to speed up the accession of the western Balkan states into the EU. Earlier this month, Janša hosted a conference of EU and western Balkan leaders in an attempt to quicken the accession.
However, these plans were kiboshed by a number of Western European capitals, who worried that the incorporation of the Balkan nations into the bloc would lead to another surge of economic migrants heading west. Indeed, what many of the Western European leaders fear most is another Brexit, and therefore the brakes have been applied on the expansion east, leaving the irate Slovenes with egg on their faces.
This week, however, relations have hit a new low. A European Parliament delegation, headed by the Dutch liberal Sophie in ‘t Veld, has travelled to Ljubljana to assess Slovenia’s situation regarding rule of law, media freedoms and corruption.
Janša obviously objected to the composition of the delegation and tweeted that the MEPs were “13 of the 226 known Soros puppets in the EU parliament” – a reference to the Jewish Hungarian-American financier George Soros.
Although the tweet has since been deleted, the damage has been done. The Dutch PM, Mark Rutte, stated that “I condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” adding that his government had “just conveyed this same sentiment to the Slovenian ambassador in The Hague.”
I am sure that the mandarins in Brussels are counting down the days until they can be rid of this Slovenian pest. They will be looking forward to January 1, when, in their view, normality can be restored, as France takes over the presidency.
Although President Macron will use the role to strut like a plastic Napoleon on the world stage, virtue signal, and bash the Brits, at least the EU will have someone it broadly trusts to say the right things and do its bidding.
The Slovenian presidency has been a disaster for Brussels, because it has laid bare the cultural and political differences that plague the bloc. It is clear that Western Europe and the Central and Eastern European states have different views about what the EU is and where it is headed. Inevitably only one side can win, and the result could well be the disintegration of the EU altogether.
One would have thought that this matter of primacy would have been settled before these countries joined the EU. Apparently, no one thought of it.
‘Not in treaty’: Hungary’s Orban sides with Poland,
rejects EU law primacy ahead of bloc’s summit
21 Oct, 2021 18:01
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks to the media as he arrives for an EU leaders summitin Brussels, Belgium, on October 21, 2021. © Reuters / Olivier Hoslet
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has once again challenged the idea of the primacy of EU law, accusing Brussels of attempts to infringe upon the rights of the national governments as he arrived at an EU summit on Thursday.
Orban dismissed the idea of imposing sanctions against Poland over its decision to make EU law subordinate to its national legislation by calling such measures ridiculous. He also praised Poland as “one of the best European countries,” adding that “there is no need for any sanctions.”
Earlier, the EU Commission head, Ursula von der Leyen, warned Warsaw it would face penalties over the move. She said Poland encroached upon the “foundations” of the union. Orban, however, believes that EU law primacy has nothing to do with any EU foundations in the first place.
“The fact is very clear: The primacy of EU law is not in the [EU] treaty at all,” Orban told reporters in Brussels, accusing the bloc of having a thirst for power.
“What’s going on here is... that European institutions circumvent the rights of the national parliament and government, and modify the treaty without having any legitimate authority to do so,” the Hungarian prime minister said.
On Monday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki expressed a similar sentiment when he warned that the EU was becoming a “centrally managed organism run by institutions deprived of democratic control.” Earlier this month, a Warsaw court ruled that areas of EU treaties are incompatible with Poland’s laws and that national laws should take precedence, backing Morawiecki’s government.
Orban had already expressed his support for Warsaw in its standoff with Brussels. In early October, he demanded the EU respect its member states’ sovereignty and said that the bloc could only take primacy in areas specifically set out in EU treaties.
The dispute has become the latest episode in a series of clashes between Poland and EU authorities. Poland’s nationalist Law and Justice party and the EU have frequently clashed over a number of issues, ranging from Poland’s self-declared LGBTQ-free zones to the situation with the rule of law in the country. The law precedence dispute was sparked amid a row over whether EU institutions could influence Warsaw’s plans for reorganizing its judiciary.
It seems, however, that Warsaw and Budapest could have trouble finding other member states to agree with them. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Thursday that European nations have to be “tough” on Poland to make it “safeguard” the independence of its judiciary.
“The independence of the Polish judiciary is the key issue we have to discuss. It is very difficult to see how a big new fund of money could be made available to Poland when this is not settled,” he said.
Ireland’s prime minister, Michael Martin, also expressed his “extreme disappointment” with the developments in Poland and maintained that EU law is needed to protect people across the continent.
“We in Ireland are very concerned, we have good bilateral relations with Poland, but we believe the primacy of EU law and the Court of Justice is critical for the protection of citizens all across Europe,” Martin told reporters as he arrived at the summit.
Here we see that the dividing lines are essentially between east and west Europe. Eastern Europe is more conservative in their values and are more likely to be Christians, while Western Europe is far more liberal and far less likely to be Christians.
Aside from Hungary, Poland's supporters are most likely to be those countries directly south of them.
Warsaw itself seems to be unrelenting. Morawiecki said on Thursday that his nation would not cave in to “blackmail” but said Poland is ready to “talk about how to resolve the current disputes in dialogue.”
He rejected the idea of “ever-expanding competencies” of EU institutions by saying that “some European institutions assume the right to decide on matters that have not been assigned to them.” Still, the prime minister once again ruled out the idea of leaving the bloc.
If EU ‘starts WW3’ against Poland by withholding promised funding,
Warsaw will defend itself with ‘any weapons available’ – PM
25 Oct, 2021 12:09
Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. © Reuters / Olivier Hoslet
Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki has warned the EU against acting “with a gun to our heads,” claiming Warsaw would defend itself by any means available if the EU launched a “third World War” by holding back Covid-19 recovery funding.
The strongly-worded statement came after the European Commission threatened to leave Poland without billions in grants and loans as a response to a controversial decision by the country’s Constitutional Tribunal, which prioritized national laws over those of the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
“What will happen if the European Commission starts a third World War? … We are going to defend our rights with any weapons which are at our disposal,” Morawiecki said, when asked by the Financial Times if Poland could now veto important legislation such as the EU’s landmark climate package.
“We feel this is already discriminatory and a diktat type of approach [by Brussels]. But if it’s going to get even worse, we’ll have to think through our strategy,” he added.
The prime minister described the European Commission’s withholding of the €36-billion grant for post-pandemic rebuilding as a “breach of the rule of law,” and said Poles would not “surrender.” In order to find a compromise, he added, the EU should reverse its recent decision to fine Warsaw daily until it implemented ECJ decisions regarding its judicial reform.
“This would be the wisest thing they can do because then we are not talking to each other with a gun to our head. This very situation creates a relative lack of our appetite for any further actions,” he said.
Morawiecki nonetheless summed up his recent talks with EU leaders – including outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, and head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen – as “very satisfying,” and stated that, despite the aforementioned disagreement, there was no risk of “Polexit.”
Last month, the Polish Constitutional Tribunal ruled that some provisions of EU treaties conflicted with Polish laws, and that the European institutions were acting “beyond the scope of their competences.” Thе move to prioritize national laws over European ones raised eyebrows in Brussels. Several figures – among them Macron, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and European Parliament President David Sassoli – demanded Poland be punished, while others, including Merkel, called for a compromise.
