Our own calamitous leader

In the EU, all the governing leaders with the exception of one would be horrified if the US gets Catastrophic Donald to the presidency. They see him as a major international risk, an unpredictable and unprepared leader at a time the world needs common sense and proven experience in international affairs.

The only one that states clearly he would prefer Catastrophic Donald to win is the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Órban. Naturally, because Mr Órban himself is an aspiring dictator and a deeply rooted xenophobic. He thinks he could get an ally in Washington. Also, he does not want to be the only grotesque leader in charge of a Western country.

But I hope he will continue alone in his retrograde corner of European politics. Political quarantine is the best way to deal with this type of fellows.

No need to go overboard

Serenity is the best answer to all complex challenges. It´s essential to keep that in mind as we face a number of terrorist attacks. They want to destabilize us. We respond with steadiness. And with the appropriate means. No need for dramatic speeches of the kind we watched yesterday in Paris. A few firm words are enough. 

The political leaders and the police work

The fight against terrorism is above all the work of the specialised police services. They should be able to carry out their duties with a great degree of independence. This basically means that the political leaders should not get involved in the technical tasks of the police. They must be advised to do so, to keep a healthy distance from the police and not to fall in the temptation of becoming super police chiefs. That´s not their role.

The politicians should deal with the public dimensions issues and above all, they ought to bring the security feelings back. That´s about promoting a climate of serenity and fighting the propagation of alarmist views. It´s about explaining the security strategies that are being put in place.

Furthermore, their relationship with the police should be about creating the critical conditions for the services to be able to perform in a coordinated and efficient manner.

But police decisions have to remain the prerogative of the police forces. If the politicians try to meddle in such interference will cause confusion in the ranks of the police bosses and will compromise the professional approaches that the challenge of fighting terrorism requires. 

Terrorism: the narrative matters

Tomorrow I should spend some time on the relationship between terrorism and media. Basically, the question is about the way our European media is reporting about the terrorist incidents that have recently caused serious despair in our societies. More specifically, the concern is about the media as amplifiers of the terror atmosphere the criminals want to create among us. How is our serious media telling the stories? The narratives, including the exaggerations, have a major impact on people. And terrorism is about impacting and destabilising as many as possible. We should not be naïve and allow ourselves to serve their objectives.

Furthermore, a crisis psychosis is the ideal ground for the growth of all kinds of opportunistic politicians. They know how to take advantage of our fears. Are we unwillingly helping them?

These are some of the questions on the table. 

Brief note on the EU Global Strategy

In the future, the EU development cooperation policy cannot just be focused on governance, security and human rights. These three domains are certainly crucial. We need to see improvements in all of them. But we cannot ignore the food security challenges, the health needs, education, gender equality, energy and some critical infrastructure. They still required massive foreign aid. They are also essential to lift people out of poverty, including the future mothers of tomorrow. And to make sure people feel encouraged to remain in their native lands. A comprehensive view of development cannot just be reduced to one size fits all.

Distant Syria

The Syrian crisis has disappeared from the front pages. There have been so many other shocking pieces of news during the last weeks. They took all the headline space available. Syria is now something distant and routine. Deadly familiar. Forgotten. And even when the matter pops in, as it happened earlier this week in Washington, it was to discuss the so-called Islamic State or Daesh, not to look for ways of ending the long-lasting hell that Syria has become.

Even the UN seems to have lost sight of the matter.

Or, it would be smart to re-open the case. We must show that we control the agenda, not the terrorists and some other crazy fellows. That we decide about what is on the table. And Syria is certainly a critical issue that cannot skip out of our eyes. 

The UN race is moving on

Today´s straw poll in the Security Council should be seen as an important step towards the election of the next UN Secretary-General. One should see several candidates leaving the race in the very near future. Those with a good number of “discourage” votes have very few motives to stay on. Some of those negative votes might come from permanent members and that would mean no, later in the day.

In the circumstances, Antonio Guterres seems to be a solid contender. He got 12 votes of encouragement and no vote advising him to go. That would make it less tempting for new names to step in. It´s getting a bit late, after today´s results. That´s the message those supporting Guterres´s candidacy should keep stressing. They have to discourage others from joining the race. 

But he also needs to watch carefully two existing candidates: Danilo Turk, the former President of Slovenia, and Irina Bokova, the Bulgarian that heads UNESCO. She remains the woman that can make it. That is a good rallying point in her favour. And Turk has some serious support within the Council.

But both Turk and Bokova have adverse votes. And that might be too difficult for them to overcome. That´s their major unknown at this stage. 

The candidates and the Security Council

Tomorrow the UN Security Council will be voting for the first time this year on the matter of the next Secretary-general. This initial round is just to clean the list of candidates a bit. As a result, a few will get an indication that their candidature cannot fly. They will withdraw silently and the process would move on.

My reading is that the geopolitical considerations will matter considerably. The Council will certainly look at the Eastern European candidates with greater attention. And then, at the gender issue.

Turkey: a major shock

The fast moving circumstances in Turkey are now a major headache for that country´s Western allies. Actually, it is more accurate to say that today´s situation is causing a massive shock in our leading circles. Our leaders cannot believe their eyes. They see a level of revenge that is just unacceptable. And they also see that the key institutions of Turkey are under a very serious attack. That starts with the Armed Forces, which are now extremely fragile, confused, frightened and humiliated. That´s certainly not good at all for a country that is located in an extremely complex and dangerous region of the world. And we can expect more complications in the days to come.

The Turkish dilemmas

One should be very worried by the developing situation in Turkey. From a domestic point of view, it is essential to be guided by democratic values and full respect of the rule of law. From a European point of view, the situation brings a great deal of additional complexity to a relationship that was already very challenging. 

Nice

The brutality of the Nice attack is most shocking. There are a few security lessons that can be drawn from this inhumane violence. But that should be done with a cold head. To go for conclusions so soon after the tragedy is not wise. Now it is time to express the horror and share our sympathy with all those who have been impacted by the barbaric act. And also to say that life goes on and we will not change our values and our way of living because some crazy beasts want us to feel terrorised.

May day in the UK

Theresa May is now the new UK Prime Minister. Her most immediate task, as we see it from the EU side, should be to initiate the exit process soonest.

She might not agree with the urgency of it. But the European leaders must keep the pressure on her and help her to understand that there is no gain and no space for delaying manoeuvres. That´s what the European citizens expect from their leaders as well.

I recognise the actual negotiations might take long. Those negotiations are however about technical issues and the very specific points of the future relationship. They should be conducted within a clear political framework, well balanced and based on established principles and rules. It is that guiding framework that needs to be defined first and without any undue delay.

China and the international law

Today´s ruling against China by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, a Hague-based UN-related institution, should be noted as a milestone. It concerns one of the potentially explosive areas of the globe, the South China Sea. It recognises that China´s maritime claims to about 85% of that sea are not founded. Furthermore, the Tribunal stated that China has repeatedly violated the sovereign rights of the Philippines and caused considerable harm to the maritime environment.

This decision will have a serious impact on further developments in the region.

China has not accepted the ruling and will continue its policy of military control of the area. That will clash with the interests of the Philippines and also of the other neighbouring countries. It will also aggravate the naval and political tensions with the US.

But China will be on the wrong side of the international law. And it should be constantly reminded that as a Permanent Member of the Security Council it has special international responsibilities. These responsibilities start with respecting the UN-backed tribunals and their patiently worked out decisions.

The NATO Summit

The NATO Summit in Warsaw, which is about to start, will endorse a major policy shift. It will squarely move the organisation into an all-out deterrence mode. And it will do it based on credible operational capabilities.

Russia might be tempted to respond by accelerating the investments in the modernisation of its armed forces. That´s the most obvious option for them. The one that will satisfy the hard core nationalist part of the Russian public opinion as well as the powerful military establishment.

But I am also convinced that the Kremlin leadership will understand, sooner than later, that re-opening the dialogue with the West is a much better -- and by far, much more affordable -- option than betting on the arms race.

Fighting for the public opinion

It is worrying to see the growing number of opportunistic columnists and politicians writing and stating foolish opinions about the EU. They think that´s what will make them popular and look smart. It´s about their personal gain, as they see it in their hearts. But for me, they  are just unwise and self-centred. And also very dangerous, as they are creating the conditions for a serious backlash in Europe.

It´s time to respond to this very serious threat. To engage in the war of narratives, I mean.

Murdoch against the EU

The billionaire Rupert Murdoch owns several, diversified press groups in Australia, Hong Kong, the US and the UK. As a result, he controls a good share of the information that shapes the views of many ordinary people in these different countries. In Australia, for instance, about 60% of the media, both national and local, is under the grip of his holding group. In the US, Murdoch´s main vehicle is anchored on Fox TV, which has a tremendous influence on the conservative public opinion. In the UK, his empire is built around the daily tabloid The Sun, but comprises other means, including TV, and also that “old lady” of the British press, The Times.

Murdoch, who is now 85, loves political power and the games that go along with it. He is always ready to play a major role in the building of the most populist political agendas and to actively support the blatantly conservative causes. All that is rooted in a very old fashioned way of looking at the world from an outdated and long gone Anglo-Saxon perspective.

His British media tools were decisively behind the Brexit propaganda. His loyal scribes made use of them to actively and purposely misinform and misguide the British grassroots readers. And also to promote the key advocates of quitting. Lies and half-truths make excellent headlines.

Now that the referendum results are in the bag, Murdoch has instructed his agents to move to the next stage of his anti-EU crusade: to attack the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. The insinuations and fabrications have started in a very subtle way by placing dismissive and unsettling words in the mouth of no-name-mentioned German diplomats. They are abundantly “quoted”, but nobody knows their identities. And the Murdoch boys and girls are doing it in a smart way, by using the very serious Times, instead of the more sensationalist papers the group controls. The Times pretends, and then other media outlets take the cue from it, that Germany sees Juncker as major problem and therefore it will be asking for Juncker´s departure later in the year or soon after that.

This is the new stage of Murdoch´s anti-EU demolition initiative.

It is also a smart move to justify the Brexit option to the very sceptic eyes in the UK. Particularly now, that the Brexit promoters are in some kind of disarray and also under fire. The best and better informed sectors of the UK are on the offensive against the “quitters” and their irresponsible behaviour.

In the near future we will see the anti-Juncker campaign moving to the level of the personal insult. That will the task reserved for the tabloids Murdoch owns. They will be gladly accompanied by other European media organs, both in the UK, including by The Telegraph, and elsewhere. That´s a good way to continue the job of undermining the EU and its institutions.

And Rupert Murdoch, if we let him on the loose, will be able to claim that he is always a winner.

EU: the Slovakian presidency

As of today and for the next six months, Slovakia will take the lead within the EU. It is the first time they are in charge.

I have read the plan they put together for their turn and found it well thought through. It gives quite a bit of attention to economic growth, the digital economy, energy policy, and innovation as well as to the trade agreements that are under negotiation.

It also mentions migrations and asylum but these are the two areas that come out as weak. Slovakia appears, like many other countries in that part of Europe, unable to put forward an approach that would balance their fears with the EU´s commitments and duties in these matters.

Migrations and asylum policies will remain notwithstanding top priorities for the EU during their presidency. And they will call for better defined and more convincing lines of intervention by the whole of the EU.