Elene Metreveli’s Post

During the years 2019-2024, the European Parliament was the protagonist of the second attempt in its history to initiate a reform process of the European institutions, which led to the approval of the text for the reform of the Treaties with the vote on 22 November 2023. At this historic moment, in 2024, after the #Covid pandemic, #Russia's aggression against #Ukraine and the rekindling of the long #conflict in the #MiddleEast, European citizens are going to vote again and will have to decide whether or not to renew their trust in political parties that want to empower Europe as federal, sovreign and democratic or against those who campaign for less Europe. This is the reason why we are so committed as European Federalists with our political campaign for the incomping European election: 1) with our political manifesto calling all political families to commit themselves to reform the Treaties through the opening of a Convention; https://lnkd.in/ez8QE2hs 2) with an analysis of the political manifestos of the various European political parties to show who is significantly committed to the reform of the Treaties and on which issues they are in favour or against; https://lnkd.in/eWXuVAUU 3) with a pledge that will be presented to as many candidates as possible asking for a direct commitment on the reform of the Treaties and to become a member of the next Spinelli Group; https://lnkd.in/enXeFYCy Follow our campaign here: https://lnkd.in/eSnTS4B8

It's not that I want to continuously post National Post articles but sometimes an article posted make you think twice. For example this 'foreign interference' piece and might I add that this has been an ongoing investigation since 2016-ish with the pay-to-play, Trudeau Foundation, a Chinese donation (was it for a statue of Trudeau Sr.?), a few members resigned, then it spilled over to surveys and mailing lists tightening up rules around that, electoral reform in some way was to address foreign interference vis-a-vis electronic voting as discussed in committee hearings and in the final report. But no accountability. And what happened with Cambridge Analytica, BREX-IT and Hillary/Trump election? Foreign interference. There sure is a lot of talk, committees, recognition of questionable or flat out wrong doing but no action, all "they" [the influencers] have to do is ride to the wave of bad media cycles (what, about 30 days or so?) and then they get away with it and do we get? "In an interim report in May, inquiry commissioner Marie-Josee Hogue said foreign meddling by China did not affect the overall results of the last two general elections." [National Post].This story keeps recycling in the news of the past couple of years, which tells me there was interference. So, if you say the Chinese didn't do it, then who did? https://lnkd.in/gHKBzRcf

European Council conclusions on #Georgia 17 October 2024 VII. GEORGIA 45. The European Council reaffirms the Union’s readiness to support the Georgian people on their European path. At the same time, it reiterates its serious concern regarding the course of action taken by the Georgian government, which runs counter to the values and principles upon which the European Union is founded. 46. The European Council recalls that such a course of action jeopardises Georgia’s European path, and de facto halts the accession process. It calls on Georgia to adopt democratic, comprehensive and sustainable reforms, in line with the core principles of European integration. The European Council will continue monitoring the situation closely. 47. The European Council expects the upcoming parliamentary elections to be free and fair, in line with international standards and with unhindered access for international and domestic election observers. The European Council stresses the need to protect a free, independent and pluralistic media. 48. The European Council reaffirms the European Union’s unwavering support for Georgia’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. It underlines the European Union’s continued commitment to peaceful conflict resolution and its policy of non-recognition and engagement.

In the late 1980s, the KGB decided to create controlled alternatives to the CPSU, which led to the formation of the LDPR under the chauvinist Volodymyr Zhirinovsky. This development is detailed in the book Twilight by Oleksandr Yakovlev, a key figure in perestroika and member of the Politburo. As the saying goes, “the ice began to move,” and with it, the entire country followed. However, the situation soon spiraled out of control. In the early 2000s, Boris Berezovsky proposed the concept of “managed democracy.” The idea was to establish an artificial competitive field, with “United Russia” on the right side of the political spectrum, and a new political force on the left to replace the communists. After Berezovsky left Russia, Vladyslav Surkov, the ideologue behind Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, completed the project by forming the Just Russia party. Yet, in a style reminiscent of Chernomyrdin, it didn’t quite work as intended. All administrative and intellectual resources quickly consolidated around “United Russia.” These examples show how challenging it is to orchestrate such political engineering and how unpredictable the outcomes can be. This is the challenge now facing the President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, who must develop a future coalition partner for next year’s parliamentary elections. She has two options: either create a pro-European party to capture votes from those disillusioned with PAS or foster a reliable political force within the pro-Russian camp for a potential broad coalition. However, true unity is elusive. Currently, NGOs connected with the West actively support Sandu, providing a foundation for her government, which has limited PR resources of its own. For the EU, Sandu remains an indispensable partner with whom it can negotiate. Yet, the emergence of another pro-European political force could pose a significant personal challenge for Sandu—one she may not be prepared for.

In my latest for Balkan Insight and Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), I argue that Europe’s far right suffers from an essential schism when it comes to the question of enlarging the EU – from which mainstream parties need to benefit. "The first dimension that articulates the EU far right’s enlargement appetite has to do with its political view over the Union’s mere existence. The second dimension is its positioning vis-à-vis Russia. Remarkably, these two dimensions play out differently depending on whose EU accession bid is being assessed. For a while now, the ball has been in the court of the EU’s mainstream parties – on whose hands falls much of the responsibility of laying out an honest domestic groundwork for enlargement, and of sending out a message of determination and integrity to the Union’s citizens." https://lnkd.in/d4KB6pdh

In Brussels for International Democracy Day (IDD), a significant global day established by United Nations to promote and uphold the principles of democracy, with the event organized by democracy organizations ENoP, EED, EPD, IDEA & Carnegie Europe. 🌍. Today is a day to reflect on the importance of freedom, representation, and the right to participate in political processes. Coincidentally, today also marks the 18th anniversary of the military coup in Thailand, which forever altered the course of our nation’s democracy. The Global State of Democracy 2024 report highlights the challenges we are currently facing. In this super-cycle election year, 3 billion people are preparing to cast their votes, but one in three will do so in countries where the quality of elections has deteriorated. Voter turnout has dropped from 65.2% to 55.5% over the past 15 years, reflecting a growing distrust in electoral processes. Despite these challenges, elections remain a crucial tool that allows people to shape their own future ✊💡. Democracy still rests in the hands of the people.

Very interesting piece that highlights the strong risk at #EU level of 'back door' alignments between the more mainstream political groups and radical factions, to the right and left: "many of the mainstream parties that spurned alliances with radicals in their home countries seem perfectly content to ally with them at the EU level, through Europarties and political groups in the Parliament." Why is this the case? A study in Italy and Germany has revealed: "...most voters actually knew very little about these alliances — 72 percent of our respondents couldn’t even identify which Europarty their national party belonged to". Mainstream political groups can (and have) use(d) EU citizens' lack of knowledge about party dynamics to collaborate with more radical contingents. For the sake of the EU project's reputation and its #DemocraticLegitimacy this has to be called out. However, recent trends indicate that voters are venting thier discontent domestically by voting for far right parties. Mainstream parties seem, currently, at a loss to counter this offensive. The combination of these issues signals a very worrying shift to the right in the upcoming #EuropeanParliamentElections

While France's far-right is hailing the lead in the parliamentary election, it’s time for us to reflect on what catalyzes the shift in its political scene. I am excited to share that the research paper I co-wrote with other researchers from ITSS Verona on the rise of far-right in Europe, which was presented to members of the U.S. Department of State, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and USAID previously, is now publicly available. The rise of the far-right has been an increasingly relevant and timely issue, as demonstrated by the gradual election shift towards radicalism. To examine the threats of the far-right to democracy, our team has performed netnography on online channels of relevant parties or politicians, as well as practised semi-structured interviews to gather expert insights. As the Contributor to the section on France, I have examined the growing potential of far-right parties dominating the Legislative election and the risk that strategic ties between France and its Western allies could be weakened, a growing concern underscored by the recent first-round election results. More importantly, given France's significant economic and military power, any major political upheaval in France could impact the entire European continent and its transnational partners. Read our report 'The Rise of the Far-Right in Europe - Mapping Groups, Narratives, and Trends in Europe’s Far-Right Landscape' here: https://lnkd.in/eaDacwM4 ITSS Verona #france #itssverona

📖 While far-right's threats to the EU's democracy dominate political debate in Europe, the situation is more subtle and complex: What is good for the EU integration might not be good for democracy, and vice versa. Is there a way out of this democracy catch-22? Read the latest article by Richard Youngs on Carnegie Europe 👇 https://lnkd.in/e4zPPz8h

The political uncertainty resulting from a hung parliament in Japan is not good news for Japan's domestic policy challenges or foreign policy demands. All eyes will be fixed to see how Japan resolves this political and policy conundrum!