EU at the crossroads

A conservative commentator fears that German efforts to centralize the EU would weaken democracy. A left-wing columnist hopes that the EU will emerge stronger from the current crises – if it survives them.

On Mandiner, Mátyás Kohán interprets German Chancellor Scholz’s suggestion to eliminate the veto rights of member states as an effort to ‘Putinize the EU’. The conservative blogger believes that Scholz’s vision, as expressed in his Prague speech last week, which called for the further enlargement as well as the centralization of the EU – would ‘end European democracy’. Kohán also mentions that German Foreign Minister Baerbock’s assertion that Germany needs to support Ukraine ‘no matter what my German voters think’ is another blow to democratic values. Kohán fears that the determination of German politicians to fight Putin may ultimately result in the destruction of democracy and the ‘Putinization’ of the EU.

Népszava’s Tamás Rónay deems it necessary for the EU to be reformed to make it capable of managing the energy crisis. The left-wing columnist suspects that the next months will be a real stress test for the EU. Rónay finds it worrying that right-wing politicians including the Hungarian Prime Minister want the EU to make a deal with Moscow and ‘force Ukraine to make territorial concessions’ to secure cheap gas from Russia. Rónay thinks that if the EU survives the current crises, marked by soaring energy prices, high inflation and potential recession, it will emerge stronger.  But he offers no hint of what reforms could make the EU more resilient to weather the ongoing crises.

Tags: democracy, energy, EU, Germany, Orbán, Russia, Scholz, Ukraine