A more united Europe

Date:

The strengthening of the Union and the cohesion between the Member States has not only not been weakened by the Russian aggression against Ukraine, but quite the opposite

It is only ten months since the Russian aggression against Ukraine. During this time, the perception of European public opinion on this matter has changed considerably. In the last days of February, the Russian aggression was seen as a fact that endangered European unity and could even lead to its end, to such an extent that the member states would be unable to agree on an aggressive war and would be unable to to form a united front against Russia. In the middle of the conflict, in the first months of the summer, it was verified that the European Union and the member states were indeed acting in unison, with convergent policies, even after they had already approved four packages of sanctions that made development extremely difficult from the war. It is clear that Russia had not achieved its goal of capturing Kiev, but at the same time the European Union could see that Putin’s regime still had enough strength and capacity to destroy Ukraine.

In recent months, the debate in the media and public perception has not been so much about the European Union’s response to the aggression, where the ability to act collectively has already been demonstrated, but about the level of energy. It was possible to see how energy prices (especially oil and gas) were a tool that gave Russia, as the main seller of energy to the European Union, the upper hand and the upper hand against the EU. And that we would be defenseless. Which would not only lead to the lifting of the sanctions, but also to a division between member states, as the degree of Russian energy dependence was not the same, and some of the big ones like Germany were among the most dependent.

Over the following months, these claims were gradually refuted, as Russia began a disorderly and hasty withdrawal from Ukrainian territory; and therefore it did not have the power supposed ‘a priori’. It was also pointed out that, possibly due to the negative effects of the sanctions on the European economy, citizens would put pressure on their governments to cut aid to Ukraine and ask for the sanctions to be lifted. In particular, one could speculate that the arrival of winter would be decisive if Russia achieved its objectives.

However, this has not been the case as, on the one hand, the Eurobarometers, both in September and December of the European Parliament, show that the European Union and its citizens have a high level of support for European policy towards Russia. In this sense, at the beginning of December, 74% of citizens supported the measures taken by the European Union in terms of sanctions, financial, military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. This has also strengthened the position of the European Union, as evidenced by the conclusions of the European Council of 15 December, the most resounding of the five councils held since the beginning of the conflict, where telematics, the 27 Member States showed a strong rejection of Russia’s violation of public international law.

It should also be noted that the interinstitutional agreement between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission, which sets the priorities and the political agenda for the next 18 months, attaches great importance to the rejection of aggression towards Ukraine, strengthening support for the neighboring country, as well as continuing the adoption of policies and measures to increase strategic autonomy and reduce energy dependency. The same can be said of the Swedish Presidency’s program starting on 1 January, in which a considerable number of proposals for action are devoted to rejecting Russian aggression.

This shows that the unity and strengthening of the European Union and the cohesion between the member states have not only not been weakened, but quite the opposite. And even the decision of the Council of the European Union of 19 December, which finally agreed to set the maximum price for the purchase of external gas at EUR 180, is a good example of the strength of the European Union’s position , which is getting bigger and bigger. Even when it was thought that the coming of winter would give way to Russia. It is possible to confirm that this time it seems that the best Russian general, none other than General Winter, will not beat the European Union.

Currently, the reduction in energy prices confirms that the first concerns are not for this winter, but for the year 2024. These considerations do not prevent us from continuing to worry about a possible relaunch of hostilities through Belarus in the coming weeks . To try to make a last attempt to capture Kiev by opening a third front of hostilities. Since the other two, one in the east and the other in the south of the country, have stabilized, it seems that there is no possibility of a major Russian advance.

We believe that the European Union has become stronger as a result of the aggression, both internally and internationally, as it has managed to take a united position on the war and has helped Ukraine significantly, as it is ultimately clear that the aggression against our political, economic and social model; and especially against our values, law and rule of law. What is surprising is that, despite being a regulatory power, the EU faces military aggression, and we understand that political, diplomatic, economic, financial, humanitarian factors, sanctions… are more relevant than even the military at the time of conflict resolution.

Source: La Verdad

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Share post:

Subscribe

Popular

More like this
Related

Courageous action – passersby prevent something worse from happening in a vehicle fire

When a car suddenly started burning in St. Michael...

Chip technology from ASML – Xi warns against confrontation via high-tech embargoes

During conversations with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Chinese...

The AUA strike has begun – today almost 50,000 passengers are still on the ground

On Thursday evening, the ground staff of Austrian Airlines...

Not just “peasants” – Tyrolean advertising: several millions, several oops

Tirol Werbe has a considerable annual budget. The...