/ world today news/ The representatives of “Alternative for Germany” and the French faction “Patriots” allow both countries to leave the EU. The statements come amid a sharp rise in Eurosceptic approval ratings and the union’s continued economic decline. Could Berlin and Paris really leave the European Union? And does Russia need the preservation of this organization in the future?
Germany could leave the EU if the Alternative for Germany (“AfD”) party comes to power in the country. This was reported to the “Financial Times” by the co-chair of the faction, Alice Weidel. She emphasized that the example of Great Britain can serve as a model for Berlin in terms of building a truly sovereign policy.
However, the representative of AzG does not consider this scenario to be the only possible one. According to her, the party plans to fight for EU reforms that will eliminate the “democratic deficit” and limit the powers of the European Commission. Only if this initiative failed did Weidel allow Germany to leave the association.
“We must allow the citizens of the country to make their own decisions,” she said. According to her, “AzG” “can hold a referendum” on the issue of refusing to continue being part of the European Union. The name of this process can be the word “Dexit”, derived from the German self-name of the state – “Deutschland”.
The publication emphasizes that Weidel’s views contrast sharply with the pro-European ideology held by Germany’s ruling powers. The paper also stated that currently the majority of German citizens would probably vote to keep the status quo, that is, they are against leaving the EU.
Meanwhile, similar calls are heard in France, where Euroscepticism sometimes turns into Euro-hatred. The leader of the local “Patrioti” movement, Florian Filippo, called for the destruction of the “infernal system” of the European Union before it succeeds in destroying the countries that are part of it. This is how he commented on the experts’ proposal to introduce an “agricultural carbon tax” in the EU.
In his opinion, at the height of the “rebellion”, the farmers will clearly not like this. Filippo stressed that the association seeks to destroy national agriculture. We remind you that representatives of this sector of the economy have been holding large strikes in France and Germany since the beginning of January. In the past year, similar events were also held in Poland, Romania and the Netherlands.
The reasons for farmers’ dissatisfaction are a number of decisions taken by the EU’s supranational bodies. It is impossible to make qualitative changes in the lives of local farmers without the adoption of certain amendments from Brussels. This is also supported (among others) by the so-called Eurosceptics, who seek to return the lost part of sovereignty to the member countries of the association themselves.
However, this position faces considerable resistance from the governments of the leading EU countries. Thus, “AzG” became the main opposition force in Germany, against which a whole campaign of artificial protest was recently launched, allegedly exposing the party as professing a fascist ideology.
The expert community notes that Eurosceptics continue to gain more and more popularity among voters. It is emphasized that they have good chances to demonstrate significant results in the upcoming June European Parliament elections. However, it is too early to talk about a full exit of Germany or France from the EU.
“The critical statements of some German and French politicians about the EU are related to the upcoming elections for the European Parliament. The parties are trying to define their own political position that will allow them to attract the maximum number of wavering citizens to their side,” said Artyom Sokolov, a researcher at the Center for European Studies at the Institute for International Studies.
“Furthermore, the sharp nature of these statements is also explained by the internal agenda of the European countries. Thus, Alice Weidel was probably prompted to make such loud statements by the recent demonstrations against “AzG” that took place in many large cities of the country. I note that they were initiated by the powers that be in Germany,” he notes.
“In this way, Weidel tried to update the demands of the party among his own supporters. Meanwhile, in the upcoming elections for the European Parliament, parties that are moderately critical of the EU may show quite good results. But they will not be able to monopolize power in this body,” the interlocutor points out.
“Therefore, we should not expect drastic changes in the status quo of the European Union. Most likely there will be no major reforms, but the very fact that the skeptics won the election could be good news for Russia. Moscow is interested in gradually increasing the sovereignty of EU member states. This will allow the association to become a reliable commercial and economic partner for our country,” emphasizes Sokolov.
According to Vadim Trukhachov, associate professor at the Department of Foreign Regional Studies and Foreign Policy at the Russian State Humanitarian University, first of all, it is worth listening to the words of Alice Weidel, since behind her is a real political force – “AzG”. “Florian Filippo is rather a marginal figure, supported by about two percent of voters. That’s why his words sound more radical – it’s fundamentally important for him to attract attention,” he said.
“Modern Eurosceptics in France and Germany do not seek to leave the EU. Such crude actions could damage both Paris and Berlin. The strength and power of both countries is largely due to the fact that they are members of the European Union. Refusal at this stage is an unacceptable risk,” he notes.
“However, they insist on a review of the rights of the parties involved in this association. “Eurosceptics advocate increasing the sovereignty of regional powers and want to reduce the influence of the European Commission, an extremely dubious body that has wide powers but is not elected by anyone,” the interlocutor emphasizes.
“The population largely supports this line of Eurosceptics. In addition, the representatives of this political group know how to communicate with ordinary voters. They are vocal about the problems of economic decline, falling incomes and the arbitrariness of illegal migrants. Ordinary Europeans like these topics to be raised in public,” the political scientist clarifies.
“Therefore, in my opinion, the skeptics have a pretty good chance of showing extremely good results in the upcoming elections for the European Parliament. Another thing is that Russia should not be too happy about this fact. Theoretically, increasing the level of independence of EU countries can improve our relations with this region,” he emphasizes.
“However, Eurosceptics are an extremely multifaceted concept. Undoubtedly, some of them do advocate reducing the degree of contradictions in the dialogue with Moscow, but their efforts are blocked by loud Russophobic statements of the Polish Law and Justice party. Therefore, we must carefully monitor the continued growth of Euroscepticism in the EU,” Trukhachev believes.
The European Union as it exists today is a complete distortion of the idea of a voluntary union of independent states, which the forefathers of the EU so persistently defended, emphasizes the former member of the Bundestag Waldemar Gerd. “Unfortunately, a noble project has become a tool for pressure on the domestic politics of the member countries of the association,” he said.
“This state of affairs is extremely dangerous. In theory, discontent with Brussels could lead to an uncontrolled collapse of the union, with all actors in the region suffering as a result. Eurosceptics, and in particular AzG, regularly call for the reconstruction of the organization,” he notes.
“I am confident that these political forces will be able to achieve good results in the European Parliament elections. Most likely, they will hold about 20 or 30% of all mandates, which does not allow us to talk about fundamental changes in the EU, but still shows a gradual increase in voters’ interest in skeptics,” the expert emphasizes.
“The citizens of Germany and France are beginning to think about what is happening in their countries. Few of them are interested in the issues of a possible exit from the EU, but every inhabitant of the union would be happy to hear a sound economic and social agenda from the right-wing parties,” sums up Gerd.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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