Macron warns of European 'civil war' over growing East-West divide

[FakeNews]

The European Union risks being torn apart by a “civil war” between its liberal and authoritarian democracies, Emmanuel Macron, the president of France has warned.

Speaking in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Mr Macron said that the EU must “build a new European sovereignty” and embark on much needed reforms to save the bloc.

The ardent Europhile was given a standing ovation and numerous compliments by adoring MEPs during the plenary debate on the future of Europe after Brexit. “We have a context of division and indeed doubt within Europe,” Mr Macron said. “There seems to be a sort of European civil war where selfish interests sometimes appear more important than what unites Europe.”

In a thinly-veiled swipe at Hungary and Poland, Mr Macron said Europe was in the grips of “a fascination with the illiberal”.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/macron-warns-european-apos-civil-102635635.html

 

[oggbashan]

The centrists of the EU haven't learned.

Brexit was the last warning that many people are fed up with European bureaucrats overriding national governments. The signs have been there for over a decade.

 

[WoundedKnee]

I wish I knew enough about Europe to have an opinion, but I really don't care to immerse myself in the political genre of the EU. I'll let the Europeans have the stage on this one.
I do note one thing, people who left Europe for the States from early on to von Mises had a healthy fear of large, overreaching and unaccountable governments, a lot like the one here that we have grown in their image.

 

[DMBFFF]

If there is a divide in Europe, it's likely more due to Putin than the aforementioned complainers about big Euro-gov't.

Who's more illiberal, the leaders of Hungary and Poland—which I hear little about wanting to leave EU, or Boris Johnson and UKIP?

 

[beew]

Concise and straight to the point, Ogg.

The following article also adds to your analysis of the roots of the rising nationalistic (or, better put anti-globalist)sentiment in Hungary:
- a combination of fear o. loss of national identity by a weaker country which has been at perpetual war with powerful aggressors (as opposed to “racism”)
- and economics - being fed up, like the rest of the world, with the neoliberal-capitalist-globalist system born in the 70’s.

Interesting that counter-movements similar to Hungary's and Poland's are starting to take place in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

N.B.
While the dynamics of the rise of nationalistic parties and Trump’s election in the US had similarities toEurope,
I feel that those who elected him belonged to two very different categories:
- those who were fed up with the status quo (crony Corporatism, proxy wars) – the majority
- and those driven by white nationalism and racism.

The centrists of the EU haven't learned.

Brexit was the last warning that many people are fed up with European bureaucrats overriding national governments. The signs have been there for over a decade.

Why is Hungary turning to nationalism? A perceived threat to its identityhas played a part
https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2018/04/economist-explains-

“Ever since the conquest o. the Carpathian basin by the Magyar tribes around 1,100 years ago, Hungary’s history has been that of a small, embattled nation, fighting continually for its survival. It has been conquered and occupied by Tatars, Ottoman Turks, Nazis, and Russians.
Magyars feel like a race apart: their language is unrelated to the Indo-European tongues that surround them, and works as a powerful national glue.

Fidesz is tapping into a wider European trend: the rise of identity-based politics around national issues.

As in Poland, Mr Orban’s nationalist campaign has succeeded partly because of the timidity of the opposition. Liberals have shied away froma deeper discussion about national values and the importance of a shared history and culture, for fear of being branded xenophobes or racists.

But in doing so they have allowed Mr Orban, who brushes off such accusations, to dominate the political narrative. Appeals to national pride have also helped him to keep the focus off difficult questions about corruption and the poor state of the health system.”

 

[BotanyBoy]

If there is a divide in Europe, it's likely more due to Putin than the aforementioned complainers about big Euro-gov't.

Who's more illiberal, the leaders of Hungary and Poland—which I hear little about wanting to leave EU, or Boris Johnson and UKIP?

No, that's a separate issue from what I can tell.


The EU, much like the US federal government, is anti-liberal, it's authoritarian collectivism. That's why socialist of various flavors fucking LOVE it, support it and want more of it!! The bigger, the more invasive, controlling and powerful the nanny/god state the BETTER!!!

The liberals want that oppressive thing called the EU chained to a wall with the shortest chains possible, much like their US counterparts who have similar feelings about our own federal government.

In the context of supporting membership and thus submission to the collectivist authority known as the EU, the UKIP'erz and other groups who don't wan to be part of that political and economic oppression are the more liberal.