One defines oneself—and is defined, and thus shaped—by one’s enemies. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and nearly forty years of untroubled life, Europe is compelled to engage in such an exercise of external definition. The question, however, is not only who threatens it and why, but also how Europe itself responds to them. Ultimately, it is whether Europe will leave behind the bliss of one era to bear the burden of the one dawning. Will it succeed?
Research by Metron Analysis for To Vima, published on 21/12, reveals a series of interesting findings. First, an overwhelming 80% of Greek citizens see Europe’s influence declining. The continent is not only old, it is also weak. Equally interesting is the assessment of the components of this disparate alliance that opposes Europe. Most Greeks say the greatest danger is internal, not from Putin’s Russia, Trump’s America, or Xi’s China. The main problem lies in Europe’s “backyard,” in the form of social inequalities and the extreme Right.
The exercise becomes even more difficult. How can you clean your backyard while neighbors stand outside your fence, eyes fixed on your living room? Is it possible to uproot the parasites of populism while also fortifying yourself against the threat at the gate?
One can see the European puzzle in a Greek microcosm. Europe’s current anxieties have been lived realities in Greece for years. We live under the double threat of internal populism and external danger simultaneously. We have experienced—and continue to experience—the consequences of this dual threat: the prolonged economic crisis during the bankruptcy period, as well as the continuation of the arms race in the era of the law of power.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis certainly did not have this in mind when, in his budget speech last Tuesday, he handed to the parliamentary reporters the phrase: “Today Europe says: we are becoming Greece.” His meaning was different; the Prime Minister described a success story, or as he put it, “a half-full glass” for the economy, whose progress was recognized by Europe with the election of Kyriakos Pierrakakis to the presidency of the Eurogroup. But now it is no longer enough to introduce oneself as a beacon of economic growth. Europe is no longer “the best place to live,” that land of prosperity and peace where happy Northerners stroll through the snow on sleds and lively Southerners offer sun, sand, and sea.
Europe is experiencing a “Greek moment.” And Greece—or at least its leadership, which is meanwhile accused by its opponents of “anti-Russian hysteria” and of being a “predictable ally”—aligns with this Europe. The Europe of existential threats that is defined and shaped by its enemies.
At To Vima’s conference, the Prime Minister stressed this commitment to the Aged Continent. He rejects, as he said, “the idea of being both with the city police and the rural gendarme.” Yet, as reported by Dimitra Kroustalli, the government shares the same concerns as citizens. It recognizes the same dangers to Europe’s cohesion, which add to the old and familiar obstacles on the path to European integration.
So, is Europe a “lame horse” not worth betting on? Could one define oneself by new friends, provided one is certain that friends like Trump, Putin, Xi, or Musk are indeed friends?
