Mediaboss Marketing

Europe is awash with worry. Ahead of parliamentary elections widely expected to deliver gains to the hard right, European leaders can barely conceal their anxiety. In a speech in late April, President Emmanuel Macron of France captured the prevailing mood. After eloquently warning of threats to the continent, he pronounced the need for a newly powerful Europe, a Europe puissance.

As I watched the speech, I was reminded of Niccol Machiavellis comments in the opening pages of The Prince, the 16th-century philosophers seminal treatise on political power. In a dedication to Lorenzo de Medici, the ruler of the Florentine Republic, Machiavelli suggested that politics is in many ways like art. Just as landscape painters imaginatively place themselves in the plains to examine the mountains and on top of mountains to study the plains, so too should rulers inhabit their domains. To know the nature of the people well, one must be a prince, Machiavelli wrote, and to know the nature of princes well, one must be of the people.

Here was a politician grappling with the first part of Machiavellis sentence, an officeholder trying to comprehend the lay of the land. What is power in contemporary Europe, and how should it be exercised by the European Union? Mr. Macron answered in princely fashion, showing awareness of both the finite nature of every political community Europe is mortal, he said and its cyclical vulnerability to crisis. He concluded with a passionate defense of European civilization and urged the creation of a paradigm to revive it.

Yet for all his aspirations, Mr. Macron neglected the second half of Machiavellis sentence: that people also form views on their rulers, which rulers ignore at their peril. Mr. Macron brushed aside the many Europeans who feel the bloc is aloof and inaccessible, describing their disenchantment as a result of false arguments. The dismissal was no aberration. For decades, the leaders of the European Union have overlooked the people in the plains, shutting out the continents citizens from any meaningful political participation. This exclusion has changed the contours of the European landscape, paving the way for the radical right.

When Machiavelli reflected on the crises of his time among them conflicts between major European powers, discontent with public officials and the collapsing legitimacy of the Catholic Church he turned to the Roman Republic for inspiration. When there is skepticism about values, he wrote, history is our only remaining guide. The secret to Roman freedom, he explained in the Discourses on Livy, was neither its good fortune nor its military might. Instead, it lay in the Romans ability to mediate the conflict between wealthy elites and the vast majority of people or as he put it, i grandi (the great) and il popolo (the people).

While the inherent tendency of the great, Machiavelli argued, is to accumulate wealth and power to rule the rest, the inherent desire of the people is to avoid being at the elites mercy. The clash between the groups generally pulled polities in opposite directions. Yet the Roman Republic had institutions, like the tribunate of the plebs, that sought to empower the people and contain the elites. Only by channeling rather than suppressing this conflict, Machiavelli said, could civic freedom be preserved.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit andlog intoyour Times account, orsubscribefor all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?Log in.

Want all of The Times?Subscribe.

Link:
Opinion | Europe Is About to Drown in the River of the Radical Right - The New York Times

(Bloomberg) -- Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called on the European Union to mobilize at least 100 billion euros ($108 billion) on defense and build a joint air-defense system as the bloc contends with Russian aggression.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Speaking alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Tusk on Tuesday argued that a long debate on the increasing the blocs defense capability must culminate in a decision soon.

A lot of money spent well and wisely on Europes security will keep the war away from Europes borders for a long time, Tusk told an economic conference in the southern Polish city of Katowice. Maybe permanently.

Polands premier has been ramping up calls for more defense spending as the war in Ukraine stretches into its third year, with Kyiv forces increasingly out-gunned on the battlefield. Warsaw has already said it wants to join the so-called European Sky Shield Initiative, which currently includes 21 countries.

The comments coincided with a number of events that underscored the threat. Security officials in Katowice said a room sweep where Tusk was scheduled to hold an extraordinary cabinet meeting uncovered devices that could be used for eavesdropping.

Elsewhere, prosecutors launched an investigation on a judge for alleged espionage after he fled the country to neighboring Belarus, claiming he was persecuted by Tusks government.

Von der Leyen said the EU should rebuild, replenish and transform its militaries, backing Tusks call for air defense. As the EU has dispatched billions to help Ukraines war effort, the 27-member bloc has fallen short in its ambitions to produce enough ammunition to help Kyiv stave off Russias assault.

Tusk warned that the region needs to spend the coming years building military readiness sufficiently to act as a deterrence against potential foes. He also called on the bloc to bolster its external border.

European borders have to be protected, because they have become the borders between the continent of peace and the aggressors who are preparing a war for us, also using hybrid methods, Tusk said.

--With assistance from Maciej Martewicz.

(Updates with security concerns, von der Leyen comments from fifth paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Read more from the original source:
Poland's Tusk Calls on EU to Build Joint Air-Defense System - Yahoo! Voices

Chinese President Xi Jinping faced criticism from European Union leaders but open arms in Belgrade and Budapest.

(CN) Amid a sharp worsening of relations between China and the West, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday began in earnest a divisive European trip where he faced trade and military barbs from European Union leaders but a warm welcome in Serbia and Hungary, two problematic countries for Brussels.

Tensions between China and the European Union have escalated in line with the growing conflict between Beijing and Washington, though European leaders have tried to take a less aggressive approach than their American counterparts.

Xi and his wife arrived in Paris on Sunday evening before the Chinese president arguably the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong was welcomed Monday by French President Emmanuel Macron to the lyse to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

On Jan. 27, 1964, French President Charles de Gaulle broke with other Western powers and made France the first major power to recognize communist China by opening diplomatic relations.

With this move, de Gaulle sought to forge an independent foreign policy for France during the Cold War. Macron, like French leaders before him, has nurtured a Gaullist instinct too and talked out against being a vassal of the United States, but such ambitions have mostly been rhetorical with France constrained by its EU and NATO memberships.

Although Macron and Xi tried to project an aura of friendship, their relationship became strained as Macron sat for trilateral talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and accused Xi of aiding Russia in its war against Ukraine through the delivery of military components and engaging in unfair trade practices to the detriment of EU companies.

Washington has leveled similar, and often identical, accusations against Beijing.

In Washington, anti-China measures have become a bipartisan issue, as seen with the recent U.S. legislation signed by U.S. President Joe Biden to force TikTok's parent company, China-based owner ByteDance, to sell the video-sharing platform or face a ban in the U.S.

In recent months, Brussels has made a trade war with China more likely after it opened anti-dumping probes against Chinese electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels. It also accuses Beijing of restricting European medical device makers from gaining fair access to Chinese markets.

The spate of probes began last September when von der Leyen in her State of the Union speech accused China of flooding the EU with heavily subsidized electric cars. Since then, EU officials have complained of China's overcapacity in many areas and denounced a growing trade imbalance.

On Monday, Xi denied that China is bending trade rules.

There is no such thing as a so-called Chinese 'overcapacity problem, Xi said in statements.

On April 23, EU authorities even raided a Chinese surveillance company's offices in the Netherlands and Poland as part of probe into Chinese subsidies. It was the first ever such raid related to a probe of illegal foreign government subsidies.

Relations also have been soured by recent arrests ahead of Xi's visit of suspected Chinese spies, including an aide to a European Parliament far-right German politician and others in Germany accused of providing sensitive military information to China's Ministry of State Security.

So far, China's retaliation against the EU's salvos over unfair trade has been mild. In January, it opened an anti-dumping probe against brandy imported from the EU, sparking fears of Chinese tariffs against French cognac makers. But the threat of a trade war is becoming louder.

Macron and von der Leyen also urged Xi to use his influence on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine. All sides agreed that they could do more to help end the conflict.

On Tuesday, Macron is slated to accompany Xi to the Tourmalet pass in the Hautes-Pyrnes mountains, where the French president spent childhood holidays visiting his grandmother.

Xi will visit Serbia on Wednesday where he will mark the 25th anniversary of a deadly NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999. Beijing continues to refute NATO's contention that the bombing was an error. The next day, he will visit Budapest and hold talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbn.

China has developed strong trade ties with both Serbia, a Balkan nation seeking to join the EU, and Hungary, a contentious EU member. Earlier this year, Serbia was offered membership in BRICS, a China-led trade alliance founded by Russia, Brazil, South Africa and India. This year, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates also joined the organization, which seeks to rival and overtake the U.S.-led global trading system.

Xi's choice to visit both countries, which are often antagonistic toward Brussels, was seen as a way he could drive a wedge between European leaders.

Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

See the rest here:
Xi visits Europe amid growing tensions with the West - Courthouse News Service

The Netherlands and several other European Union member states are working on a letter urging the European Commission to arrange shelter for asylum seekers in non-EU countries. They want asylum seekers intercepted while trying to reach Europe to be sheltered outside of Europe, NOS reports.

The asylum seekers can apply for asylum in the European Union but will have to stay in the non-EU country while they await the decision on their application. Asylum seekers who have exhausted all legal remedies could also be accommodated in non-EU countries until their return journey.

The Czech Republic and Denmark initiated the plan. The idea is similar to an agreement Italy signed with Albania in November. Albania, a non-EU country, houses some of the asylum seekers rescued on the sea at Italys expense while the Italian authorities process their asylum applications.

The letter also mentioned the Turkey asylum agreement, implemented when the Netherlands led the EU, as an example. This deal stipulated that people who made the crossing from Turkey to Greece irregularly would be sent back to Turkey unless they applied for asylum in Greece. Last month, three aid organizations sued the Dutch State over the Turkey deal, holding the Netherlands responsible for violating Dutch, international, and EU law and for the years of inhumane conditions on the Greek islands.

It is not clear which non-EU countries the Netherlands and other EU member states want the European Commission to make these agreements with. The letter contains no concrete plans, according to the broadcaster.

State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum) told NOS that the EU countries are looking for additional solutions to strengthen their grip on migration. He called cooperation between countries essential for this. That is why I am in favor of countries also looking for out-of-the-box solutions such as the agreements that Italy made with Albania, he said. He added that these solutions must at all times be in line with international and European law.

Visit link:
Netherlands joins call to shetler intercepted asylum seekers in non-EU countries: report - NL Times

Israel's offensive on Rafah will likely kill more civilians and is being carried out despite explicit warnings against it from European Union member states and the United States, the EU's top diplomat said on Tuesday.

"The Rafah offensive has started again, in spite all the requests of the international community, the US, the European Union member states, everybody asking (Israeli Prime Minister) Netanyahu not to attack," Josep Borrell told journalists.

"I am afraid that this is going to cause again a lot of casualties, civilian casualties. Whatever they say," he said, adding: "There are no safe zones in Gaza."

Palestinian militant group Hamas on Monday agreed to a Gaza ceasefire proposal from mediators, but Israel said the terms did not meet its demands and pressed ahead with strikes in Rafah while planning to continue negotiations on a deal.

View post:
More civilians will be killed in Israel's Rafah offensive 'whatever they say' - EU's Borrell - The Jerusalem Post