Being a small press outlet with very limited resources, we strive to prioritise with the news items that are most important. Last week on the 2nd February, Mario Draghi received an honorary doctorate from the Belgian KU Leuven University for combining academic work with public service. He also gave a speech which was widely quoted by the press and you can listen to it here.
He didn’t say anything new in his speech which was basically a rehash of his speech he gave last year at the European Parliament – only it was more European, more confident and bolder. Draghi’s pro-European thoughts have grown gradually more explicit and now he is calling for straight up European federalisation and a unified security and foreign policy along with trade and fiscal policies. The noteworthy aspect is not Mario Draghi saying these things, but rather that his views are gradually entering the political and European mainstream and are becoming non-controversial.
According to the latest Eurobarometer survey, the overwhelming majority of Europeans support a more unified Europe with more cohesive security and foreign policies to face global challenges. The question is how? Although the task of unifying the security and foreign policies of all EU member states seems to be a gigantic and endless task, the ideal is already becoming widely accepted. The divide in the political arena in Europe is gradually evolving into the divide between those who support European federalisation and those who support a weaker and more divided Europe that appeases to Russia and global powers instead of competing against them. Obviously, the latter is mainly composed of the far-right and the far-left while the Greens are split. The conservatives, the liberals and the social-democrats seem to be converging around the former idea.
Mario Draghi has also become the prime European intellectual reference of European leaders. This development has happened casually and without any controversy. In Europe, Mario Draghi faces no equivalent intellectual counterpoint. Tomorrow, before a European Council meeting in Brussels, some European leaders are joining Mario Draghi for a retreat in Alden Biesen Castle to discuss European competitiveness. Enrico Letta is featured as a main speaker alongside Draghi, yet it is unmistakably Draghi’s show throughout, and this is because some European leaders are as interested in the idea of a federal Europe as the galvanised, Erasmus-shaped pro-European youth.
Has Russian propaganda reached its peak-affect? Russia’s economy is faltering due to sanctions and its subversive operations in Europe, especially with its losses in the Romanian and Moldovan elections, have taken a very severe hit – for sure. Europe seems to have a window of opportunity to discuss more freely than before its road to federalisation, and with less Russian interference – all thanks to the heroes in Ukraine fighting the Russian horde.
The current historical moment seems to be providing Europe with a major opportunity. Draghi is bringing renewed energy into the European project and the confidence that European leaders need to believe in radical ideas.
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Historian and Publisher
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