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Two events happened last week — one profusely covered in the European and world media, the other hardly at all — that would have long-lasting and, in the second case, profound implications for generations to come. The first case had to do with the elections of Ursula von der Layen as the new president of the European Commission, the second with the publication of a study showing that the Germans increasingly are losing their majorities to those with a migrant background.
The second study was vastly more important historically for the future of Europe, but that, predictably, was not the coverage it received. Instead, it was barely noticed, driven as it was to obscurity by the hubbub of von der Layen’s election. That election, in fact, was little more than a Brussels farce of the first order and yet another reminder that democracy in the E.U. capital has become a quaint idea often mentioned but seldom really practiced. Not only was von der Layen not an official candidate, let alone a Spitzen candidate, but she was not even rumored to be a candidate until elected.
Moreover, as a politician, she was undoubtedly a failure. Having run the defense ministry since 2013, not only did she fail to increase the defense budget to the widely promised 2% of GDP, but she left office with the pathetic 1.25% by 2023. The only other thing she would be remembered for is the Gorch Fock disaster, a navy training ship whose repair bill grew on her watch from 10M euros to 135M. So she is a failed politician, and the Bundeswehr is a joke, but hey, she is a “friend of Merkel” and, as the latter herself pointed out, also a woman, and that, it seems, is all that counted for the top job in Brussels today.
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See Also:
(1) Time for Europe to Get Over The “Worst Deal Ever”
(2) Brexit Party boost: Nigel Farage close to stealing Labour MP in huge blow to Jeremy Corbyn
(3) Brexit fury: Boris already hit by Remainer revolt as Tory MPs refuse to pledge loyalty
(4) EU climbdown: How Merkel begged Polish PM to back von der Leyen as EU chief
