Declan Ganley and the Nationalist Right
By Mikael on Thursday 5 February 2009, 08:34 - Permalink
The Nationalist Right is rallying around Irish businessman Declan Ganley and
his Libertas movement. Ganley's supporters include MEPs Philippe de Villiers
and Paul Marie Coûteaux, both members of the Mouvement pour la France, and
Greek MEP Georgios Georgiou. Other politicians backing Libertas are Lord Alton,
a life peer in the British House of Lords; Finnish MP Timo Soini; Bulgarian MP
Mincho Kuminev; and Polish regional assemblyman Cyprian Gutkowski.
All the above-mentioned right-wingers have lent their personal support to Declan Ganley's applicaton for Libertas to become a European political party.
It seems that Declan Ganley is trying to sink the EU with the help of these and other conservative Nationalists. Ganley is in turn backed by powerful circles within the US military-industrial complex, who do not wish to see a united and democratic state emerge on the old continent. These are the same circles as those who oppose newly elected president Obama's plans to withdraw the troups from Iraq. For them, a united and democratic Europe, as described in the constitutional draft from 1984 ("The Spinelli Project"), is a nightmare, since they fear that it would spell the end of the political and military supremacy which the USA has had over Europe after World War II.
In my country, Finland, the chairperson of the "True Finns" Party, MP Timo Soini has until recently squarely rejected the European Union and Finland's membership in the same. He has only shown deep contempt for the European Union. Thus on 29 January, Mr Soini wrote in his blog that he will not run in the elections for the European Parliament, because "my morals and my conscience will not sink to the level of the EU".
However, yesterday Timo Soini came forth with a declaration to indicate that the the "True Finns" are no longer demanding that Finland leaves the EU. Could it be that Mr Soini hopes to get financing via Libertas for "True Finns" who are, after all, morally prepared to candidate in the coming euro-elections?
Within the Finnish electorate, the support for the "True Finns" Party is now bigger than that of the Leftist Union. According to a recent poll, only 7.5 percent would vote Leftist Union, while 8.2 percent would vote for the True Finns. Meanwhile, the support of the Social Democrats has fallen to under 20 percent.
It was the Finnish Social Democratic Party which led Finland into the EU in the 1990s. Unfortunately, the Social Democrats did not, and do not, have any vision of the future of the EU itself, if we except the now vanished Neoliberal pipedreams of Tony Blair.
What was "The Spinelli Project"? This is the question the European Left must now ask itself.
"Contemple-les, mon âme; ils sont vraiment affreux!" (Baudelaire)
All the above-mentioned right-wingers have lent their personal support to Declan Ganley's applicaton for Libertas to become a European political party.
It seems that Declan Ganley is trying to sink the EU with the help of these and other conservative Nationalists. Ganley is in turn backed by powerful circles within the US military-industrial complex, who do not wish to see a united and democratic state emerge on the old continent. These are the same circles as those who oppose newly elected president Obama's plans to withdraw the troups from Iraq. For them, a united and democratic Europe, as described in the constitutional draft from 1984 ("The Spinelli Project"), is a nightmare, since they fear that it would spell the end of the political and military supremacy which the USA has had over Europe after World War II.
In my country, Finland, the chairperson of the "True Finns" Party, MP Timo Soini has until recently squarely rejected the European Union and Finland's membership in the same. He has only shown deep contempt for the European Union. Thus on 29 January, Mr Soini wrote in his blog that he will not run in the elections for the European Parliament, because "my morals and my conscience will not sink to the level of the EU".
However, yesterday Timo Soini came forth with a declaration to indicate that the the "True Finns" are no longer demanding that Finland leaves the EU. Could it be that Mr Soini hopes to get financing via Libertas for "True Finns" who are, after all, morally prepared to candidate in the coming euro-elections?
Within the Finnish electorate, the support for the "True Finns" Party is now bigger than that of the Leftist Union. According to a recent poll, only 7.5 percent would vote Leftist Union, while 8.2 percent would vote for the True Finns. Meanwhile, the support of the Social Democrats has fallen to under 20 percent.
It was the Finnish Social Democratic Party which led Finland into the EU in the 1990s. Unfortunately, the Social Democrats did not, and do not, have any vision of the future of the EU itself, if we except the now vanished Neoliberal pipedreams of Tony Blair.
What was "The Spinelli Project"? This is the question the European Left must now ask itself.
"Contemple-les, mon âme; ils sont vraiment affreux!" (Baudelaire)