Grandstand. The Versailles European summit missed a great opportunity: that of establishing a new post-war order for Europe in a highly symbolic place.
We are not dreamers. We know that joining the European Union (EU) is no picnic and that Ukraine is, in principle, subject to the same procedures as the candidate countries from the Balkans. However, the possibility presented itself of laying the groundwork for a political union as a prerequisite for full membership. Instead, heads of state have taken the procedural route, as if routine EU rules invariably apply, even in such an extreme case as a war in Europe. Once again, the quibbles of European technocrats have supplanted the project of freedom and peace.
From now on, the European Union is no longer the economic union that we have known. Without wanting it, Putin sent it back to its origins: that of a normative and institutional alliance. In any case, it should be again. From now on, it is a question not only of protecting Ukraine against Russian aggression, but also of reinforcing the protection of new members, in particular in the Baltic countries, and of including all the States wishing to join the EU.
A new war is possible
An “enlarged Weimar triangle” is needed to ensure, in particular, the regional and concerted development of EU security policy. This Germany-France-Poland triangle and the Baltic States must engage in enhanced cooperation in terms of security policy, including in the field of nuclear armament if that proves necessary. The United Kingdom, for its part, must mend the political alliance which it recklessly abandoned.
But stronger protection against Russia also requires tackling Putin’s Trojan horses such as Orban’s Hungary or Vucic’s Serbia. This obviously raises questions about Hungary’s EU membership and Serbia’s candidate status.
In this context, Bosnia and Herzegovina deserves particular attention. Serbian politicians in Banja Luka and Belgrade are stirring up divisive tendencies there. Thirty years after the start of the war in Yugoslavia, the fragile BiH confederation is undermined and a new war between ethnic groups becomes possible. The separatists of “Greater Serbia” can inevitably count on the active support of the Putin regime.
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