Finally, we are after the elections. How does the European Union look like in their aftermath? There is little doubt that the Christian Democrats (European Peoples’ Party — EPP) have won these elections decisively, while the European Socialists surprisingly have been very badly beaten. The latter have managed to bring into to the European Parliament 100 members short of the European Right. Why do I say then it was a surprise? In the midst of the financial crisis, the Socialists were counting on benefiting from the economic disarray in Europe caused by deregulated financial markets based on liberal principles. It was not however sheer political exploitation of the bad economic situation in the Old Continent. The Socialist had a very good record regarding this issue. As I was mentioning already in this column, my colleague, former Danish Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen in his report in spring 2007 had warned about the possibility of the crisis and called for more regulation of financial markets. Despite this visionary approach, the Socialist did not managed to bring this message across to the Europeans. The good news is however, that even though they were defeated, they still remain the second political force in the European Parliament and it seems very likely that an institutional consensus between European LEFT and RIGHT will remain untouched at its foundations.
The new European Parliament will also see many new faces - some of them quite scary - of those who have managed to exploit the crisis and the fears of many Europeans. I am referring to extreme right, racist and xenophobic parties, which have made their way into the Parliament from all across Europe. These include among others - Jobbik of Hungary, Ataka of Bulgaria, Great Romania Party, Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV), True Fins or British National Party. Thankfully they will have no power whatsoever in the European Parliament. Nevertheless as a European phenomenon the extreme right is dangerous and must not be ignored. Let’s hope that in the future they will share the fate of the Polish extremists and populists who did not managed to be re-elected under the pan-European flag of Libertas.
What do these elections mean for Ukraine? If we look at the political links bridging Ukraine and the EU, it is evident that both President and Prime Minister should be happy with the victory of Christian Democrats, since their parties belong to this political family. It is however not that simple. To prove it I will point only to one example. On the eve of the European elections German CDU-CSU, later victorious member of EPP, has issued a statement calling for freezing of the EU enlargement. It is of course not an official German position but shows two things - first, that business is always before political friendship, second, that so called “enlargement fatigue” is not just an invention, but is real and must be seriously addressed by the Ukrainian authorities. Thus, despite very specific political links Ukrainian executive must keep constant dialogue with all major European players, not only of their own political affiliation.
I will end up by a personal note, saying that I have managed to be re-elected with almost a double number of votes compared to 2004 elections and I will be continuing my work with Ukraine and if The Day’s editor in chief dose not decide otherwise, I hope to continue to write this column.
