Differences and the common threat
In Europe we find “maximum diversity in minimum space,” the great Milan Kundera once said. Having left Czechoslovakia, which was under the Soviet boot, for the fertile ferment of Paris, the exiled writer found a spacious, multifaceted Europe which was built on the principle of humanism, and which for many decades had managed to set aside the friction that comes of the coexistence of various nations, groups and traditions. Fresh memories of war and the distribution of unprecedented prosperity were the adhesive for all this.
Now, for various reasons, the faith of many in the EU is fading, the ecosystem in which we grew up is under threat. Not so much from real differences among groups but from various political formations, which, despite sharing similar mentalities, loathe each other and, in unison, loathe the Union.
In the EU’s largest country, whose fate will determine that of Europe, the far-right “Alternative for Germany” (AfD) first emerged during the Greek crisis, exploiting the anger of many Germans at their country’s support for Greece. Then, its focus jumped from one current issue to the next – opposition to immigration, anti-vaccination protests, denial of the climate crisis.
A few days ago, for the first time, two AfD candidates were elected mayors in small communities in eastern Germany. On its own, this would not amount to much, but polls suggest that AfD could come first in elections that will be held in three eastern states in September 2024. At the national level, the party is second, behind the opposition CDU/CSU, ahead of the three members of the governing coalition (the SPD, Greens and FDP).
In elections for the European Parliament next June, it is likely that AfD and likeminded parties in other countries (including Greece) could gain a significant number of seats.
Their members will then declare loudly how different they and their people are to others, trumpeting their superiority and the injustices done to them. With similar belligerence and conspiracy theories, with easy promises and irresponsible attacks on others, they will unite their arrows against the EU.
The Union’s defense depends on the awareness and active participation of citizens of all member-states against the common threat of artificial divisions.
