Warning the European Union faced “a critical situation,” 62-year-old German Chancellor Angel Merkel faces cracks within her own governing coalition and real dangers in the EU after Great Britain voted June 23 to bail out. While technically still 27 members, the EU is really 26 with newly minted British Prime Minister Teresa May not attending the meeting at a hilltop castle in Bratislava, Slovakia. Bratislava was supposed to start the “roadmap” without the U.K. going forward to consolidate EU unity, despite obvious policy differences in the bloc. “We are in a critical situation. We have to show with our actions that we can get better,” Merkel said at the summit. Merkel’s open-door policy of allowing at least 1 million Syrian refugees into Germany, and expecting all EU countries to follow suit, drove Britain out, now threatening to tear up EU states opposed to taking Mideast refugees.
When you consider Brussels backs the nearly six-year Saudi-funded proxy war against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, it’s ironic that the ensuing refugee crisis threatens the 1992 Maastricht Treaty signed by German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and French President Francois Mitterand establishing the EU. “We face either break-up, weakening—or we choose the opposite, together giving Europe purpose,” said French President Francois Hollande, knowing what’s at stake. Backing President Barack Obama’s efforts to topple al-Assad, the EU walked right into the fire, watching an unending proxy war deteriorate into the worst humanitarian crisis since WWII. No one in the EU imagined Merkel opening Germany’s doors over 1 million refugees created because of a failed U.S. and EU Syrian policy. Had the EU opposed Saudi’s proxy, Brexit would not have happened.
Merkel and Hollande have applied relentless pressure on all EU states like Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia all Hungary, all refusing to take Mideast refugees. When Hollande talks about EU “purpose” he’s referring to lofty goals of promoting peace and economic prosperity on the continent. While peace has prevailed since ash-heap of WWII, prosperity hasn’t happened for many EU countries, especially the joined the Eurozone. Speaking on a working cruise down the Danube, Maltese Premier Joseph Muscat Tweeted: “Bratislava summit was so far a straightforward discussion of options for EU to move ahead. We are all on the same boat, literally,” talking about options after Brexit. Britain’s exit from the EU, while not complete, raised questions about what remains for other countries get out of EU membership, whether economic prosperity or security assistance.
When you consider that Ukraines’s Feb. 22, 2014 coup was all about joining the EU, Ukrainians rolled the dice, only to watch their fortunes backfire. Faced with the despair of staying in the Russia Federation, Ukrainians took to Kiev’s streets hoping for a better future. When Hollande talked of “purpose,” it was the EU’s promise that led Ukrainians to risk life-and-limb to be eventually part of the EU. Now that the EU’s future is in question, member-states weigh-out the costs v. benefits of EU membership. Brussels-based European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker talked in Bratislava of expanding the EU bureaucracy, opening up a defense headquarters. U.K. officials grew weary of paying the $14 billion to the EU in annual dues with little or nothing to show for it. While paying less, other EU countries are asking whether or no the costs outweigh the benefits.
Merkel’s fervent belief in the EU stems from the horrific acts of Germany in WWI and WWII, leaving Europe in ruins. She’s willing to pay any price, endure any burden, meet any hardship to assure Germany never repeats its past mistakes. Whatever Merkel’s motives, other EU states, after watching Britain exit, are asking whether the overriding EU philosophy meets the economic and social challenges of individual EU members. Host country Prime Minister Robert Fico refused to take a “single Muslim” in Slovakia, rejecting the EU’s call to take Mideast refugees. Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary feel the exact same way. Before adding more bureaucracy, the EU needs to figure out whether there’s enough common “purpose” to keep the union together. When you consider the EU backs the Saudi-funded Syria proxy war, it shows how blind policies are self-defeating.
Instead of wasting time in Bratislava talking about life in the EU after Britain, the EU’s executive leadership should find a fix to the Syrian War. With the Sept. 10 U.S.-Russian ceasefire already failing, the EU must get off the fence and tell the Saudis to stop funding the war. No matter how the EU dislikes al-Assad, he’s preferable to the ongoing death, destruction and terrorism fueling the refugee crisis. If ending the Saudi proxy war would stem the flow of Mideast refugees, it should be on the EU’s highest priority list. Washington, too, should recognize the part they’ve played in fueling the Syrian proxy war, regardless of what it thinks about al-Assad. As Russian President Vladimir Putin suspected, the Saudi-Turkey-U.S.-backed rebel groups are too entwined with terror groups to get out. Only by accepting al-Assad’s right to Syrian sovereignty can the war eventually end.
