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May Day 2017 By Peter Schwarz 4 May 2017

This speech was delivered by Peter Schwarz, Secretary of the International Committee of the Fourth International, to the 2017 International May Day Online Rally, held on April 30.

In the 20th century, Europe was the origin, and the main battlefield, of two imperialist world wars. In 1945, the continent, which was the centre of the industrial revolution and at the forefront of cultural progress, lay in ruins. Between 80 and 100 million people were killed in the two wars. Germany, which had once been proud of its culture, its writers and its composers, had become the centre of the most barbaric crimes humanity has ever seen.

May Day 2017 Peter Schwartz

No more fascism; no more war!this slogan was supported by millions at the end of the war. It was widely understood at the time that fascism and war were the product of capitalism. Particularly in Italy and France, where the Communist Parties had mass support, and wheredespite the treachery of Stalinismthe memory of the October Revolution was still alive, workers were determined to settle accounts with the bourgeoisie and establish socialism. In Germany, anti-capitalist sentiments were so strong, that even the conservative CDU felt obliged to inscribe into its program that capitalism had failed.

But the Stalinist and reformist leaders of the workers movement blocked these socialist aspirations and worked closely with their respective governments to stabilize the capitalist system. They promoted a number of mechanisms which, as they claimed, would overcome the national and social antagonisms that had led to fascism and war.

Social reformsrather than social revolutionwould gradually overcome social inequality and create prosperity and equal opportunities for everyone; the economic integration of the continent on a capitalist basisthe European Unionwould overcome the national antagonisms that had destroyed Europe.

Seventy years later all these promises lie in tatters.

Social inequalityboth across the continent and in every individual European countryis greater than ever before. The average wage in Bulgaria is more than ten times lower than the average wage in Denmark; and even in rich countries, like Germany, millions live in poverty, work at sub-minimum wages and in precarious jobs. Unemployment is high; in some European countries, more than fifty percent of young people are without work.

The danger of war is bigger than ever since 1945. Every single European country is massively increasing its military budget; European troops are engaged in imperialist wars in the Middle East and in Africa; and for the first time since the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, the Western imperialist powers are deploying troops to the Russian border.

The threat of a military confrontation between the two largest nuclear powers of the world, the United States and Russia, is no longer a hypothetical possibility but a real danger. It would transform Europe into a nuclear battlefield.

Not only the threat of war with Russia, however, but also the danger of war between Europe and the United States, and within Europe itself, is growing. Tensions between the United States and Europeand Germany in particularhave been increasing for a long time. But with the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States, they have acquired a new dimension.

Germany has reacted with an aggressive foreign and military policy. It is massively increasing its military budget and is trying to transform the EUor at least its corefrom an economic into a military alliance, dominated by Germany and coequal to the US.

The European Uniononce advertised as a means of unifying Europehas emerged as a breeding ground for nationalism, xenophobia, social regression, law-and-order policies and war.

The austerity programs dictated by Brussels and Berlin have devastated entire countrieslike Greece. The brutal rejection of refugees by Fortress Europe has created conditions where more than 5000 people have drowned in the Mediterranean within a single year. The only field where the EU is making real progress is the build-up of a vast police and surveillance machine.

Europe is bristling with social tensions. It is like a ticking time bomb. The gap between the political and economic elites and the vast majority of the people is huge. This is expressed in the collapse of political parties that have been in government for decadeslike, most recently, the Socialist Party in France.

But social discontent, outrage and anger find no progressive political expression. This is due to the right-wing policies of the political parties and trade unions that once claimed to take care of the social interests of the working class, and of the pseudo-left organizations of the middle class. They play a central role in attacking the working class and promoting militarism and war.

This was most clearly demonstrated in Greece. Faced with the alternative of accepting the austerity diktat of the EU, or mobilizing the Greek and European working class against it, the Coalition of the Radical LeftSyrizadecidedly opted for the first. The affluent middle class layers, which Syriza represents, are ten times closer to the corporate and financial elites, represented by the EU, than to the working class.

The utter bankruptcy of the reformist and pseudo-left organizations has created the conditions where far right forceslike the Front National in France, the Freedom Party in Austria, the AfD in Germany, UKIP in Britain, or Geert Wilders in Hollandhave been able to capitalize on social discontent, and profit from hostility to the EU.

They stand for xenophobic, chauvinistic and even fascistic policies and are a big danger. But they cannot be stopped by supporting their bourgeois rivals. To rely on pro-EU parties to fight the nationalist far right, is like relying on an arsonist to extinguish a fire.

The growth of far-right parties does not mean that there are no left-wing sentiments. But to the extent that they find expression within the present political setup, they are immediately betrayed. In Greece, Syriza was elected into government because it promised to oppose austerityonly to implement even more ferocious attacks on the working class.

In France, the vote for Jean-Luc Mlenchon has more than doubled since the beginning of the year, because he has made anti-war and anti-austerity noises. In the end, only 1.7 percent separated him from Marine Le Pen, the Front National candidate. But, as a seasoned bourgeois politician, who has been in business for more than 40 years, the last thing Mlenchon wants is an independent movement of the working class.

The urgent task now posed in Europe, as everywhere in the world, is the building of sections of the ICFI that can provide the working class with an internationalist socialist orientation in the coming social eruptions.

Our answer to the crisis of the EU is the United Socialist States of Europe. This is not a rhetorical slogan, but a political perspective.

We fight for a mass movement of the working class against war, dictatorship and social inequality, that is politically independent of all the parties of the bourgeoisie and their pseudo-left, petty-bourgeois agents.

We fight for the unity of the European and international working class against any form of nationalism.

And we fight for the overthrow of capitalism and the establishment of a socialist society, based on social need instead of private profit.

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May Day 2017 The Crisis of the European Union - World Socialist Web Site

Levente Hrmpli-Tth

Thursday, May 4, 2017, 11:40

The latest Eurobarometer shows that the majority of European citizens regard the EU as a positive thing. More than half of Hungarians would like to see deeper integration, a fact perhaps hinted at by the pro-EU, anti-Russia march through Budapest on May 1.

According to a recent Eurobarometer survey, the idea that belonging to the EU is good has risen significantly, and is nearly back to its pre-crisis level, last seen in 2007.

Citizens are, more than in the past, interested in European politics and the feeling that their voices count at EU level is on the rise, although it has not reached a clear majority. By comparison, six Europeans out of every ten consider that their voice counts in their own country, which is 10 percentage points more than in 2016.

According to the respondents, the EU still has some work to do to demonstrate that democracy is operating well within it. Just under 50% express this feeling, while just over half take this view when it comes to how democracy is working in their own country.

Europeans are deeply worried by the latest global geopolitical developments. In the face of these uncertainties, most are in favor of a common EU approach to addressing them. The very strong calls for more action by the EU in 15 key policy areas bear witness to this. And, in comparison with last years results, the proportion of those believing that EU action is adequate has risen markedly in most of the fields surveyed, possibly demonstrating that respondents are becoming increasingly aware that the EU is acting on their behalf.

Hungarians overall are a less enthusiastic about the European Union than the EU-28 average. Whereas 57% of EU citizens think the EU is a good thing, only 48% Hungarians agree with that statement. On the other hand, 42% of Hungarians believe it is neither good, nor bad. By contrast, that neutral position is taken by mere 26% of respondents of the EU-28.

Furthermore, more than half of Hungarians would speed up integration between member states and a predominantly high portion of them agree that the EU works democratically. By contrast, they have the impression that they are more dependent on Russia than respondents in other EU states. As far as economic outlook is concerned, Hungarians believe that growth has returned and so has positive progress.

Finally, despite these encouraging developments, the overwhelming majority of Europeans say that inequalities between social classes are significant, and a third of them doubt that this crisis will be over for many years.

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Confidence in the European Union close to pre-recession levels - Budapest Business Journal

GETTY - REUTERS

Yesterday the Turkish leader insisted the EU must open new chapters in Turkey's accession process.

And he claimed if members failed to do so, Ankara would have nothing to discuss with the bloc and would say "goodbye, ending its 50-year attempt to join Brussels.

EU leaders have previously voiced concerns over Turkey joining the union, but the comments have surprisingly caused a huge row among the bloc's ministers.

And now politicians are warring among themselves - with one MEP accusing a colleague of endangering the credibility of the European Union by opposing the termination of talks with Turkey.

GETTY

Kati Piri, Turkey's correspondent to the EU Parliament and a Dutch politician, was left furious by president Erdogan's ultimatum and called on member states to be stricter on Ankara.

She said: If Turkey were really interested in joining, Ankara would have had to show that.

The opening of new negotiating chapters with Turkey is absolutely not up for debate.

The EU can not be blackmailed by any country on the issue of membership, not even by Turkey.

Anyone wishing to join the EU must meet the criteria. I do not see that at all in Turkey. Therefore the negotiations should be terminated.

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A police officer talks with the soldiers involved in the coup attempt after they surrendered

Foreign Minister Gabriel endangers the credibility of the EU

Kati Piri, Turkey's correspondent to the EU Parliament

But her colleague German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel disagrees.

During a recent summit in Valetta, France and Germany stopped short of declaring an end to the possibility of Turkey one day joining the European Union.

The countries instead suggested the EU could opt to try to reframe the Brussels-Ankara relationship by trying to broaden trade ties.

GETTY

And Gabriel later told reporters he was "strictly against" annulling the accession process.

He said: "We can try to open new channels for negotiations. It does not improve things by cancelling something before we have something new to offer."

But his comments have since sparked a huge row among EU members, who accuse Mr Gabriel of ignoring the Turkish citizens and playing into the hands of those who want to destroy the union.

GETTY

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Ms Piri said: Foreign Minister Gabriel endangers the credibility of the EU with his opposition to a termination of the accession negotiations with Turkey.

And he disregards the opinion of half the Turkish citizens who voted against the constitutional reform.

I do not believe that cooperation with Turkey, which is not based on common values, helps the democratic forces in the country.

Anyone who simply accepts the violation of human rights is playing into the hands of Europe-sceptics.

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BRUSSELS AT WAR: Bloc split as ministers scrap with each other over Erdogan's EU ultimatum - Express.co.uk

The Brexit bill could hit 84.5billion according to the Financial Times (Picture: Getty)

The UK could be facing a Brexit bill from the European Union of up to 100 euro (84.5bn), it has been reported.

It had been believed Brussels was seeking a divorce deal of up to 60 euro (50.7bn), but added demands by the EU could send the figure soaring, according to the Financial Times.

The UK could receive calls to contribute to post-Brexit farming payments and may be blocked from obtaining a share of EU assets, the FT said.

The EU will also not allow Prime Minister Theresa May to negotiate Brexit directly with her European counterparts, according to The Times.

The PM would be prevented from joining Brexit discussions at future EU heads of government meetings, the newspaper said.

The only person Mrs May will be allowed to hold such meetings with will be the European Commissions lead Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, The Times said.

Such a move would run contrary to Mrs Mays claim that she would be negotiating directly on the terms of Brexit with fellow European leaders.

After reports that a meeting between Mrs May and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in Downing Street last week had seen tense moments, the PM appeared to toughen her stance.

Mrs May boasted about being a bloody difficult woman after she dismissed a lot of the leaked account of the dinner with Mr Juncker as Brussels gossip.

The Prime Minister told the BBC: During the Conservative Party leadership campaign I was described by one of my colleagues as a bloody difficult woman.

And I said at the time the next person to find that out will be Jean-Claude Juncker.

Tory MP Sir Bill Cash told the Daily Telegraph he believed Germany and the EU were trying to influence the election, saying: What they are doing is trying to exploit a new kind of project fear and that is not going to work on the British people.

Brexit looks likely to again be a major political talking point in the election campaign as Mr Barnier gives a press conference on Wednesday.

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Brexit bill to quit European union could hit 84500000000 - Metro

In about two years, the United Kingdom will officially leave the European Union, and commentators around the continent are speculating about which country will be next. In Western Europe eyes are on France and the Netherlands, as both have strong Euroskeptic movements, bolstered by anti-immigration parties. But to identify the larger but creeping threat to the EU, you need to look east.

One country facing a rising tide of Euroskepticism is the Czech Republic. Anti-immigration sentiment has surged in the Central European state ever since it joined the EU in 2004.

About two thirds of Czech people oppose taking in refugees, and a 2015 poll found that 94 percent favor closing the borders completely. Czech politicians have capitalized on these sentiments, with a growing number of politicians running under an anti-immigration banner.

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This dislike for immigration has led to animosity toward EU members who favor an open immigration policy, notably Germany, and increased hostility toward the European Union itself. This new Euroskepticism is personified by the incumbent president Milo Zeman.

Read more:Why Europe's populist revolt is spreading

Zeman has been the president of the Czech Republic since 2013. Prime minister under the very popular President Vclav Havel, Zeman rose to power as part of a Western-oriented shift in Prague's politics. But as contempt in the general population toward the EU grew, Zeman altered his priorities.

Today, the 73-year-old represents a growing hatred for the elite among the Czech population. Zeman has popularized the term Prask kavrna, or the Prague Caf Society, to describe intellectuals who oppose his policies. In November 2016 he said :

"Everyone can express their opinion. I only despise those people who believe that their opinion is superior. And that's what I call a Prague cafe. Often, but not always, they are failed politiciansWhy do they have to be the conscience of the nation?"

After the U.S. election he said he was "very happy" about Donald Trump's win, a sentiment with which not many in Europe agreed. In defying the standard, Zeman highlighted the growing belief in the Czech Republic that relations with Brussels aren't considered to be essential anymore.

While the grounds on which some Czech Euroskeptics, including Zeman himself, criticize the bloc might be controversial notably that it allows the migration of Muslim refugees, whose integration Zeman describes as impossiblethere are ways in which officials in Brussels and Strasbourg have brought this conflict upon themselves.

Ever since the 2004 enlargement of the European Union to include several former Eastern Bloc countries, European technocrats have believed that financing Central and Eastern European infrastructure and agriculture will make them nod along with the policies of the Brussels machine.

When the Czech foreign minister Lubomr Zaorlek demanded the resignation of EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker after the Brexit vote, no word came out of Brussels. A similar message out of France or Germany would not only have prompted a reaction, it might have led to a resignation.

In a comparable fashion, the ruling European Commission has shown itself to be equally tone deaf when it comes to the political history of its post-Communist member states. In December 2016, 14 Czech and Slovak Members of the European Parliament penned an open letter to Juncker, condemning a press release in which he had described the deceased Cuban dictator Fidel Castro as a hero to many.

Castro supported the brutal Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, following the Prague Spring. When questioned by a Czech journalist about the collaboration of Fidel Castro with the inhumane regime that was the Soviet Union, Juncker's spokesperson said that considering the question that way took a "very narrow view of reality.

The East-West divide is apparent in more than just a growing contempt for the EUit also manifests itself through relations outside the union. The Czech Republic's second-largest trading partner is China, after Germany. The history of this relationship dates back to 1949, when the former Czechoslovak Republic recognized the People's Republic of China, something the U.S. only did 30 years later. China continues to be an ally of the Czechs. It even condemned the repression directed toward the Czechoslovak revolution against the Warsaw Pact in 1968.

In 2014, Milo Zeman traveled to Beijing to vouch for improved business and tourism relations, and proposed a direct flight connection between Prague and China's capital. The Chinese in turn seem receptive to the affection from this small Central European nation: On the way to the U.S. in March 2016, the Chinese delegation stopped in Prague for a symbolic visit. Zeman has blamed the United States and the European Union for straining the Czechs relationship with China by attempting to lecture Beijing on human rights.

The European Union forbids members signing independent trade deals not agreed upon by all 28 member states, which has led to the bizarre situation in which the 300,000-inhabitant state of Iceland has a free trade agreement with China, while the rest of Europe doesn't.

If the EU does not improve on its ability to expand the political inclusion of countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the already crumbling trust between Brussels and these members will entirely collapse, and its newest members will end up quitting.

Countries like the Czech Republic are divided between the East and the West; a complete lack of interest in the ramifications of this divide and a no-compromise position on the issues of international trade will grow into the next big crisis of the European Unionmaybe even its last.

Bill Wirtz is a Young Voices Advocate and a law student in France. Young Voices is a nonprofit writing project for politically independent millennials.

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Forget Frexit, the EU's Next Threat Comes From the East - Newsweek