European Disunion

Well, after a seemingly endless campaign, the European Union election results are finally in – and many of us will be wishing they had stayed out, as they do not make very comforting reading for anyone who believes in a Europe of peace and unity. The big story of the night is the large number of anti-EU right wing populist parties that did extremely well in elections – particularly the Front National in France, the United Kingdom Independence Party, and the Danish People's Party. All three of these parties won their respective national votes, and all three of them could be called anti-immigrant, xenophobic, and perhaps even racist – in some case, directing animosity towards citizens from other members of the EU.

The voters of Europe (at least those who bothered to turn out, which in most countries was only a small percentage of the population) have spoken, and it seems that they have chosen hatred, division, and mutual suspicion. They have chosen to ignore the decades of cooperation that Europe has achieved under the EU, a state of peace that is almost unknown in the history of the continent. And they have chosen to blame foreigners for their problems – underemployment, the need for more social services, and cultural disruption – rather than looking to the true culprit of capitalism.

Truthfully, we should be against the EU in many ways, but it is the neoliberal capitalist aspect of the EU that we should be fighting. The part of the EU that pushes for privatization of services; that wants to create a common market in services across the continent, allowing companies from rich countries to take over things in poorer places; that subsidizes farmers to the tune of hundreds of millions of Euros a year to produce food that is simply wasted or which inflates prices on the world market; that negotiates unfair trade deals with poorer countries around the world, while colluding with the US to create ever more profit for itself.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the only country in the recent election that seems to be fighting this capitalist EU is Greece, where the left wing Syriza party came out on top of the polls. Greece has been at the epicenter of this neoliberal EU, having been forced to adopt an agreement to slash jobs and services, reduce wages and benefits, and destroy the social fabric of Greek society all to pay back European banks. The Greeks have seen the true face of the capitalist EU, and have responded accordingly by electing a party that specifically opposes that form of Europe, without rejecting the many benefits that greater European unity has given us (although it must be noted that the extremely right wing Golden Dawn party came in third place in the Greek election, so that country is not completely free of ridiculous racist ideas by any means).

It is time for the rest of us to take a lesson from the Greeks. Rather than voting for parties that offer nothing but hatred and which target relatively helpless groups of poor immigrants who are only trying to make a living, we need to develop our own versions of Syriza. Political parties which understand the frustrations of ordinary people, but which also identify the right causes for these symptoms. Political parties which understand that it is the neoliberal capitalism of the EU which is the problem that needs to be solved, not the open borders and freedom of movement. And ultimately, political parties that want a Europe based on equality, fairness, justice, and most of all, unity.

[ European Union election, election results, right wing populist parties, United Kingdom Independence Party, Danish People's Party, cultural disruption, privatization of services, left wing Syriza party, Greek election, freedom of movement ]