The European Union faces some serious challenges in 2015 and for once they have nothing to do with the parlous state of the euro, and brutally expose the EU’s unwillingness to take tough political decisions. Over the past year, the EU has made two serious political mistakes that will haunt it for years to come unless it changes policies quickly. Without decisive EU action, there is a real danger that Europe will change back to the centuries-old system of great powers exchanging military threats and destroying the rule of law.
The EU’s first error is the most obvious. Brussels and its member states are failing to face down Russia’s assault on the rule of law under the kleptocratic President Vladimir Putin, who has already stolen two bits of Georgia without penalty, grabbed the whole of Crimea from Ukraine, and is now destabilising eastern Ukraine using pro-Russian separatists. The EU’s failure to respond effectively has left Ukraine stranded and allows Russia to speculate about invading Estonia and other Baltic states. The second error is to allow Hungary to flout EU requirements to support democracy. Authoritarian Prime Minister Victor Orban is misusing his landslide victory and is seeking to rewrite the constitution to reshape Hungary on the models of Russia, China, and Singapore. “We are parting ways with western European dogmas. We have to abandon liberal methods. The new state that we are building is an illiberal state,” he said.
These two challenges mean that the EU faces one serious challenge from a member who despises its core principles, and another from its most significant neighbour. The EU should take more courage from its size and authority, and refuse to be beaten by these outrageous bluffs. It should take a more active role in defeating Russian hopes to rule east Ukraine and it should warn Hungary that it could be expelled from the EU if it does not embrace the principles of democracy. Unless the EU stands up for itself, it is in danger of losing its core values, which have been an example to the whole world and won the greatest prize of all: Peace in Europe for two generations.
