By: Dr Matevž Tomšič
The observation that the significance of Europe in international relations is diminishing is not the result of any particular analytical profundity. By this, we mean the European Union as the central institutional connection on the continent and the countries closely associated with it (including the recently exited United Kingdom). Individual European powers, which once ruled vast colonial empires, have long ceased to play a leading role in the world. However, the international influence of the EU is significantly smaller than one might infer from its economic, scientific, and intellectual potential.
It is quite absurd that Putin’s Russia, which is economically comparable to the EU in terms of territorial size – albeit much smaller (its economy is the size of Italy’s), is holding Europe hostage in terms of security. However, this country does not pose the main long-term threat. China poses that threat, experiencing significant economic growth, and in recent years, expanding its geopolitical influence, especially in the so-called global south.
The reasons for Europe and the West losing global power and influence are predominantly of an ideological-political nature. They do not originate from external factors but are a product of internal developments in Western societies. China’s power is strengthening because it has been allowed to do so. Western economic managers short-sightedly abandoned certain industrial sectors and moved production to the third world (largely to China). In their limited greed, they sold many high-tech companies to the Chinese, who then simply copied their technological solutions. Additionally, in their ecological frenzy, Western – especially European – policies, fuelled by a multitude of climate and similar activists, are literally destroying entire industries, even agriculture, upon which people’s food security depends.
All these policies, which evidently harm the international position of the Western world, are the result of ideologies that have spread in recent decades. These ideologies encompass various forms of neo-leftism, from radical feminism and LGBT activism to multiculturalism and extreme environmentalism, all of which are hostile to the traditions on which Western civilisation is based. They attempt to impose a kind of historical guilt on Westerners for the “exploitation” of people in the non-Western world, thus claiming that they must now solve practically everything and for everyone.
Harmful policies stemming from these ideologies are mainly generated by the bureaucracy of the European Union, which is infused with individuals advocating these ideological currents. One such policy is the “open borders” policy, promoting mass migration, even from environments whose values are entirely incompatible with European values; this means that the integration of a large part of such newcomers into European society is practically a mission impossible. This poses a significant threat to the stability of the Union and the security of its citizens.
The European elections in 2024 will be crucial for the future of the EU. They represent one of the last opportunities to put an end to harmful policies resulting from selfishness, short-sightedness, and above all, ideological blindness. There is a special responsibility on the shoulders of the largest political group in the European Parliament, namely the European People’s Party. This grouping, which brings together centre-right conservative and Christian-democratic parties, has been the driving force of European integration since the end of World War II but has recently too often yielded to the policies and orientations of the European left. It is high time for it to strongly oppose them and (not just in words but also in actions) advocate for the consistent respect of European values and traditions. These are, after all, in diametric opposition to the modern leftist progressivism.