Member-only story
Let’s be Honest, Putin Saved Europe
The problem with the European Union (and Europe, at large) since at least 2014, was that it was becoming increasingly divided and polarized.
As with other corners of the Globe, populism threatened the state of our democracies. I know this as a Slovakian, where we struggle with getting rid of our ex-PM and notorious kleptocrat, Robert Fico, for over two decades now because of populism’s gripping effect on our populace.
Democracy is slow and it seems to be bad at bringing people to justice, at times. But Putin changed that. He — unintentionally —revitalized Europe and brought much-needed solidarity to Europe in the wake of his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
That is why Ukrainians need our support. We can unite for this cause and push back against the growth of autocracy in the world if we continue our military and humanitarian assistance.
Solidarity
With Brexit in 2016 and a similar threat coming from France where the right-wing populist Marine le Pen threatened an identical exodus if she were to find the French election, the European Union was scared.
Various “exit” campaigns arose across the EU from Finland, Sweden, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Greece, Italy, and countless more. It seems that most countries wanted an exit strategy of sort because of…
