With European Union bosses working overtime to finish crushing what remains of national sovereignty and self-government in Europe, the public across much of the bloc appears to have had enough. In elections to the European “Parliament” — not a true legislative body in the traditionally understood sense of the word, but the only elected outfit in Brussels nonetheless — political parties opposed to the ongoing EU takeover made massive gains. Meanwhile, in another troubling omen for the super-state and its proponents, less than 45 percent of eligible voters actually cast a ballot in elections held over the last several days..
Some analysts and commentators said after the voting that without major changes, the entire European “project” may be doomed before the next election comes around. Secession fever is raging, too. Indeed, hostility toward Brussels is now officially at unprecedented levels. However, despite the latest results being described by both the establishment and the so-called euroskeptics as a “political earthquake,” unelected Brussels-based “leaders” remained undeterred, vowing to proceed with their controversial super-state as planned anyway.
“This is the moment to come together and to define the union’s way forward,” European Commission boss and former Maoist revolutionary José Manual Barroso said after the stinging rebuke of his schemes by voters became clear. “The concerns of those who voted in protest or did not vote are best addressed through decisive political action for growth and jobs, and through a truly democratic debate.” The head of the EU Commission, an unaccountable sort of hybrid executive and legislative branch that now dominates the lives of Europeans with its deluge of decrees, could not have sounded more unhinged if he had tried.
With the entire EU edifice having been built in defiance of the peoples’ will, though — when voters overwhelmingly turned down the “Constitution,” for example, it was imposed anyway — EU bosses’ confidence may be premature. Still, despite the humiliating outcome for the establishment, self-styled “mainstream” parties will continue to tenuously hold the pseudo-parliament; at least for now. The “center-right” European People’s Party, which includes pro-EU parties from across the bloc, will keep slightly more than 200 out of 751 seats in the outfit. The Socialist wing of the establishment appears set to retain around 190 seats.
Perhaps the most significant victory for liberty-minded pro-sovereignty forces came out of the United Kingdom. The U.K. Independence Party, which has been demonized by the establishment, officially became the biggest political force, earning close to 30 percent of the vote and beating out both “establishment” parties — the first time in a century an alternative to the two has beat them both. The pro-EU Labor Party and the ruling Conservative Party each earned less than one fourth of the vote, prompting Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron to acknowledge the obvious: that the public is “disillusioned” with the super-state.
The UKIP, though, celebrated the results. “The real effect of these elections, with big ‘Euroskeptic’ gains in many countries, will be less what happens in Brussels and more what happens within the member states,” party leader Nigel Farage (shown above), one of the EU’s harshest critics and a proponent of secession, told reporters from Brussels. “I think the day when we have more referendums on EU membership and membership of the euro will have come much, much closer with these results tonight.” A successful U.K. referendum on secession may be coming soon.
The UKIP supports sovereignty, freer markets, seceding from the EU, and imposing sensible limits on immigration. The people of the United Kingdom do too, Farage said based on the election results. “The people’s army of UKIP have spoken tonight and have delivered just about the most extraordinary result in British politics for 100 years,” he said in his victory speech. “The penny’s really dropped that as members of this union we cannot run our own country and crucially, we cannot control our own borders.”
Another equally massive victory for the anti-establishment party came from France, where the pro-sovereignty and anti-euro National Front officially became the biggest political force in the nation based on the election results. National Front chief Marine Le Pen said the public in her homeland had “shouted loud and clear” that France should be run “by the French, for the French and with the French” rather than by “foreign commissioners” at the EU. The party is often inaccurately characterized as “far-right” by the establishment press and politicians due to its support for curbing immigration.
“The people have spoken,” said Le Pen after the victory. “They don’t want to be led any more from outside…. The sovereign people have proclaimed loud and clear … that they want to take back their destiny into their own hands. We must build another Europe, a Europe of free and sovereign nations and freely decided cooperation… What is happening in France signals what will happen in all European countries; the return of the nation. Tonight is a massive rejection of the European Union.” Indeed, that is the conclusion even the most fanatical proponents of unaccountable EU rule were forced to concede.
The ruling French Socialist Party, meanwhile — already badly bruised after being crushed in recent local elections — appears to have earned its lowest share of the vote ever with less than 15 percent support. The results were humiliating for the establishment powerhouse as it increasingly finds itself on the fringe. Following various scandals and his oversized role in the ongoing implosion of the French economy, Socialist President François Hollande, among the chief cheerleaders in Europe for massive, centralized government control, is also now one of the most unpopular politicians in the bloc. After the vote, critics called for the Socialist government’s leaders to resign in shame.
Outside of France and the United Kingdom, anti-EU parties on the “left” and “right” secured unprecedented victories. From Germany and Austria to Sweden and Greece, the out-of-touch establishment was badly battered and humiliated. Despite the humiliating defeat for the establishment in many of Europe’s most important formerly sovereign nations, though, EU commissars, unsurprisingly, vowed to keep usurping more power — this time under the guise of “helping” the “economy.” Analysts said the establishment appeared to be getting more and more unhinged and detached from reality as the uprising grows.
The establishment press, meanwhile, appears to be equally tone deaf and oblivious. Consider, for example, the increasingly discredited New York Times’ “reporting” on the election results. Shortly after incorrectly labeling anti-EU parties as “fringe,” the report acknowledges that in France, the pro-sovereignty National Front secured over one fourth of the vote — beating out the ruling Socialist Party as well as the other wing of the establishment political class, Sarkozy’s “center right” Union for a Popular Movement. The UKIP also crushed its competitors.
How the “reporter” determined that the biggest winners in France and the United Kingdom should be described as “fringe” was not made clear. The Times report and various EU commissars also blasted the surging anti-EU parties across the bloc as “extremist,” suggesting that the establishment views much of the public it purports to represent as a threat to be neutralized rather than taxpayers and citizens to be served and represented by public servants. Still, the establishment rhetoric has become typical, probably contributing to the increasing anti-EU outrage being manifested all over Europe. In the real world, the actual “fringe” are the rabid pro-EU extremists running the show in Brussels.
European Economic and Social Committee boss Henri Malosse, who leads an umbrella group for unions and employers in Brussels, was quoted as warning that “this may be the last European election if Europe does not change.” Separately, Center for European Reform director Charles Grant pointed out that the Brussels-based ruling class is having a hard time “connecting” with the people it allegedly represents. The “Parliament,” he said, “exists inside the Brussels bubble and doesn’t talk about things most people care about.” Its primary concern “has been to get more power for itself and more money for the European Union,” Grant added.
The latest election results are a major setback for the EU and its apparatchiks — at least in terms of being able to successfully push the ongoing deception that the controversial super-state has any sort of legitimacy or the consent of the governed. However, as EU rulers have promised repeatedly in recent years, they intend to rule the peoples of Europe from Brussels, regardless of what the public thinks. The latest hammering at the polls is unlikely to make a serious dent in that process — especially because Europe is really run by the European Commission, which is beyond the reach of furious voters. Still, the carefully constructed façade of public consent is crumbling quickly, and eventually, the EU might go with it.
Nigel Farage talks to the media via a video link from Britain with the European Parliament in Brussels, May 25, 2014: AP Images
Alex Newman, a foreign correspondent for The New American, is currently based in Europe. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ALEXNEWMAN_JOU.
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