European leaders warn coronavirus could lead to the breakup of their union

[Peter1469]

European leaders warn coronavirus could lead to the breakup of their union

When crisis strikes the EU we typically see member states clash over solutions. Why, because each nation still has their own interests and those interests diverge from EU member nation to nation. Coronavirus could be the straw that breaks the EU's back.

The coronavirus pandemic, with its simultaneous health and economic crises, is deepening fault lines within Europe in a way some leaders fear could prove to be a final reckoning.

The cohesion of the European Union had been battered by Brexit, bruised by the political fallout from the 2015 migration surge and the 2008 financial crisis, and challenged by rising autocracy in the east that runs contrary to the professed ideals of the European project.


Now, if Europe’s leaders cannot chart a more united course, the project lies in what one of its architects described this week as “mortal danger.”


In the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, the response among European Union member states showed that national interests trump more-altruistic European ideals. Border restrictions were reimposed haphazardly, and Germany and France threw up export bans on medical equipment such as masks and ventilators, even as Italy clamored for assistance.


Quick to capitalize were the propaganda machines of Russia and China. Moscow and Beijing have swept in with much-trumpeted — if sometimes defective — medical aid, pushing a savior narrative and providing fodder for the region’s Euroskeptics.

Read the rest of the article at the link.

[Cletus]

The breakup of the EU is inevitable. The sooner, the better.

[Peter1469]

Yes. They should have remained just an economic block.

[Mister D]

European leaders warn coronavirus could lead to the breakup of their union

When crisis strikes the EU we typically see member states clash over solutions. Why, because each nation still has their own interests and those interests diverge from EU member nation to nation. Coronavirus could be the straw that breaks the EU's back.



Read the rest of the article at the link.

Nationalism is a problematic ideology but it is far more acceptable than the liberal universalism masquerading as "European ideals". I'll take the nationalism.

[Peter1469]

Nationalism is a problematic ideology but it is far more acceptable than the liberal universalism masquerading as "European ideals". I'll take the nationalism.

Me to. But I don't find it problematic.

I am a foreign policy realist. That is a very broad group, but I am with the tradition that nations act in their own self interests within the constraints that apply to them. A crude way to view it:

Strong nations do what they want to a degree.

Weak nations do what they must do. To survive.

[patrickt]

European leaders warn coronavirus could lead to the breakup of their union

When crisis strikes the EU we typically see member states clash over solutions. Why, because each nation still has their own interests and those interests diverge from EU member nation to nation. Coronavirus could be the straw that breaks the EU's back.



Read the rest of the article at the link.

It always pays to be optimistic. Keep a happy thought.

[Peter1469]

It always pays to be optimistic. Keep a happy thought.

I always do. That is how you get through the suck without going crazy.

[Mister D]

Me to. But I don't find it problematic.

I am a foreign policy realist. That is a very broad group, but I am with the tradition that nations act in their own self interests within the constraints that apply to them. A crude way to view it:

Strong nations do what they want to a degree.

Weak nations do what they must do. To survive.

States always act in their own interests. That's not nationalism. Nationalism is an ideology. In the USA, it is closely associated with the federal government's power. I'd say you might want to rethink that but you're defining nationalism in a reductive manner. That's fine but it could lead to us talking past one another. In any case, we agree that little allegiance is felt by the various peoples of Europe to the European idea at least as it has manifested in the E.U. That's a good thing.

[Peter1469]

States always act in their own interests. That's not nationalism. Nationalism is an ideology. In the USA, it is closely associated with the federal government's power. I'd say you might want to rethink that but you're defining nationalism in a reductive manner. That's fine but it could lead to us talking past one another. In any case, we agree that little allegiance is felt by the various peoples of Europe to the European idea at least as it has manifested in the E.U. That's a good thing.

In this context I am broad stroking it- nationalism v. globalism.

When you get into the weeds, I agree.

[patrickt]

Oh, the horror. What's next. Ocasio-Cortez announcing she's leaving the House to return to high school? The Democrat Party merging with the Communist Party of America? Al Gore announcing he's in the running for the nomination? CNN announcing they're going to try reporting and see how that works?