Its an interesting view on left and right. It seems dead. Today is 0 or 1 , a binary lack of critical thought - believe or blaspheme. Context and background facts are missing from public assertions by politicians and even the head of the UN comes out with some really silly comments. Journalists have largely become activists which is resulting in truth going behind paywalls? How does the EU navigate the crisis in a sea of bullshit.
Fear-mongering and censorship, that's how they "navigate". I see von der Leyen already threatened Italy that if they vote for the right wingers, there will be consequences.
Why would any sane politician in any of the Member States vote for a price cap on <insert Russian energy commodity> when the con's are well known and keenly felt, while the pro's are simply theoretical as in maybe removing some income and thus starving the Putin's war machine.
Why would solidarity even come into this discussion? It's not about helping each other, it's about adopting a policy that's not good for any of them.
Why would bloomberg or anyone expect that _all_ 27 heads of state would just nod and rubber stamp?
The best way for solidarity is to not let your friends make a mistake that'd cost them dearly for no return at all. Yeah, I know, this is an unpopular view. But give it some time, it might change.
Powerful piece Irina, thank you. Despite my own passport being British, I for one consider myself first and foremost ‘European’. Much of my career has been working across the continent, from Madrid to Moscow, Athens to Oslo, and many places in between. I love that neither Europe nor even the ‘EU’ can possibly ever be ‘One Nation’, I love it’s internal diversity. Like you I don’t think ‘Brussels’ gets everything right, but I do think the work of EU institutions has broadly been a force for the better over the last several decades and I am indeed concerned about risks of weakening coherence and the potential for further schism.
Thank you, Peter. Certainly, the EU has done some good work on, for example, product quality standards, but at the same time it's done a lot of ill in its attempts to forge a single nationoid out of all these diverse cultures.
Its an interesting view on left and right. It seems dead. Today is 0 or 1 , a binary lack of critical thought - believe or blaspheme. Context and background facts are missing from public assertions by politicians and even the head of the UN comes out with some really silly comments. Journalists have largely become activists which is resulting in truth going behind paywalls? How does the EU navigate the crisis in a sea of bullshit.
Fear-mongering and censorship, that's how they "navigate". I see von der Leyen already threatened Italy that if they vote for the right wingers, there will be consequences.
Necessity is a mother.
Excellent article.
Thank you.
Irena, absolutly a great article!!! well done.
Why would any sane politician in any of the Member States vote for a price cap on <insert Russian energy commodity> when the con's are well known and keenly felt, while the pro's are simply theoretical as in maybe removing some income and thus starving the Putin's war machine.
Why would solidarity even come into this discussion? It's not about helping each other, it's about adopting a policy that's not good for any of them.
Why would bloomberg or anyone expect that _all_ 27 heads of state would just nod and rubber stamp?
The best way for solidarity is to not let your friends make a mistake that'd cost them dearly for no return at all. Yeah, I know, this is an unpopular view. But give it some time, it might change.
It is an unpopular view because it is a rational one. But we should always have some hope.
If those dutch are taking their 5 minute showers without their masks on, then it doesn't count as solidarity.
Summarising the insanity that has been poured over us for the past two years in one sentence. Brilliant.
Powerful piece Irina, thank you. Despite my own passport being British, I for one consider myself first and foremost ‘European’. Much of my career has been working across the continent, from Madrid to Moscow, Athens to Oslo, and many places in between. I love that neither Europe nor even the ‘EU’ can possibly ever be ‘One Nation’, I love it’s internal diversity. Like you I don’t think ‘Brussels’ gets everything right, but I do think the work of EU institutions has broadly been a force for the better over the last several decades and I am indeed concerned about risks of weakening coherence and the potential for further schism.
Thank you, Peter. Certainly, the EU has done some good work on, for example, product quality standards, but at the same time it's done a lot of ill in its attempts to forge a single nationoid out of all these diverse cultures.
Such attempts were always doomed....as so succinctly and pithily put on 1 Nov 1990 on the front page of The Sun newspaper in the UK.....