British commentator Ben Judah in 2020 wrote that the first impression one gets when watching Ursula von der Leyen is a lack of authenticity, while Jean Quatremer from the Liberation outlet observes that she is now transparent in her accommodation for all of Berlin’s needs. Both these commentators are from the center and left, showing that it is not just conservative commentators who see what is going on.
Von der Leyen, whose term of office as defense minister in Germany featured introducing mirrors in soldiers’ lockers so they could adjust their make-up, LGBT training for the German army, and fashion shows for women soldiers, owes her position of European Commission president to Angela Merkel, and she has never forgotten that.
Her visit to Poland to announce the European Commission will unblock EU funds for Poland has been covered by the Polish mainstream media as an example of the country returning to being a “normal” EU state. Tusk promised that he would unblock EU funds, and this has come about, with €137 billion now beginning to flow into Poland.
The only way to see this is as a reward for an election victory given to Poland by a rich aunt from Brussels. It is a gift because in reality nothing has changed concerning the issue of rule of law. Not a single piece of legislation has been passed in parliament, and the crisis has only deepened following Tusk’s takeover of public media and the prosecutor’s office in contravention of the law and in defiance of the courts. We are actually further away from the rule of law than we ever were.
The European Commission is therefore opening up its coffers because the Polish government has given the right signals. This is no cause for celebration, as it shows that there is no rule of law in the EU — all that matters now in both Brussels and Warsaw is political will and power. The rich aunt will give money when the subservient relative behaves himself.
Undoubtedly, these are sizable presents, but they are also an incentive for the Tusk government to maintain its chosen course. It is also a clear sign of how the Brussels elites intend to act in the future, with rules being changed for those it favors. It is all based on appearances rather than reality.
Europe is abandoning ideas in favor of dogma. It was dogma to believe that the euro was a recipe for an economic nirvana. The same is true of the climate ideology destroying farming in Europe. Now we have a definition of the rule of law depending on whichever government Brussels currently supports.
This is where we are, with the concept of the rule of law being stood on its head while those who actually violate it being applauded and rewarded — all this even before we have even deeper European integration.
