Europe: The next day

Europe, with a broader geopolitical dimension of the term, faces multiple regional problems, especially since 2014.

Specifically, Russia's invasion in Crimea in early spring 2014, the rapid deterioration of the refugee crisis due to armed conflicts and/or political persecutions carried out, from a certain point onwards (2014-2016), almost simultaneously in countries of the Middle East (e.g., the civil war in Syria, the war of government forces in Iraq against the Islamic Caliphate, and the second phase of the war of government forces in Afghanistan against the Talibans) and Africa (e.g., the civil war in Somalia and the war in Darfur (Sudan)), as well as more recently, both the second and generalized invasion of Russia in Ukraine in 2022, which led to the de facto paralysis of the UN Security Council, combined with the subsequent deterioration of the Palestinian Issue (2023), as well as the coups in seven Sahel countries between 2020 and 2023 (Burkina Faso, Chad, Gabon, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Sudan), all these, as regional problems, together with international issues (e.g., the rise of inflation, the energy crisis, the climate crisis, the accumulation of global wealth in the hands of a few and the decrease in opportunities for social advancement, etc.), create a highly threatening situation for Europe's political and social status, not only for today but also for tomorrow.

The need for limitation of the role of foreign forces on European soil

The role of states that do not belong geographically to the European continent should be limited. It is inconceivable for the decisions of states that do not understand European interrelations to seek and be allowed to have decisive power in resolving regional issues.

More specifically, one of the major problems of the EU and its regional allies during this period is that, as the popular saying goes, "one breaks and another pays." For example, due to strategic mistakes of third countries in the Middle East, the EU is obliged to "bear the consequences" of all these armed conflicts and to manage, among many other things, the unbearable, both economically and socially, refugee issue.

Achieving EU strategic autonomy is now imperative. The only criteria for its decisions should be to serve its own interests, either regional or global, and not the interests of third parties.

With a total GDP of 14.5 trillion euros and a 14% share of global trade in goods (second only to China), the EU must and can stop being the "long arm" of third powers that are interested in nothing but serving their own interests, completely indifferent to achieving any mutually beneficial agreement, even among their own allies.

Further investment in the European defense industry

Given the aforementioned regional conditions, it is imperative for the EU to strengthen its defense capabilities through a concerted strategic plan among all member states, setting aside any short-sighted nationalistic agendas and understanding the continent's substantive, long-term needs.

Europe is home to leading public companies in the design and production of defense systems, with countries like Germany, France, Spain, Finland, Norway, Italy, and Sweden being major stakeholders (e.g., Airbus, Naval Group, Navantia, Kongsberg Gruppen, Saab, Patria, Thales, Leonardo, Rheinmetall, etc.). Despite the fact that the budgets of these companies are much smaller compared to their counterparts across the Atlantic, the products they design are of exceptional quality and rank among the world's best. Moreover, achieving high technological goals with less money essentially underscores both the excellent technical training of European scientists involved in these defense programs, as well as the value of the absence of speculative factors (since the European defense industry is primarily state-owned and not private), the presence of which, in other cases, gradually leads to the degradation in quality of the products intended to serve national security purposes.

Topics of discussion post-European elections

With the expected rise of the far-right in Europe, it is of paramount importance to initiate a broad public dialogue regarding the direction of Europe from now on. Not of Italy, Germany, France, or Greece. Of Europe, as one.

Discussions on the accession of Western Balkan states to the EU must be accelerated, and EU strategic investments in these regions must be increased immediately so that the average citizen can see with their own eyes the value of their country's accession to the EU, as their quality of life will noticeably improve.

The EU's approach to Russia is both difficult and necessary. It must be understood that Russia existed before Putin and will continue to exist after him. The imposition of harsh, long-term economic sanctions ultimately harms the average Russian citizen rather than Putin and his entourage, who continue to live in opulence at the expense of the Russian people. The EU's enemy should not be Russia, with whom the people of the rest of Europe share a common history spanning centuries, but the dictator Putin and his government.

The forthcoming agreement between the EU and Russia, in continuation of the aforementioned, should be based solely on the mutual regional interests of the two parties, and third parties should have no say in it.

Regarding Ukraine, the process of its accession to the EU should be initiated the day after peace is concluded with Russia, as it is clear that it belongs to the Union, both culturally and (now) politically.

At the same time, it is important to open a dialogue on an issue that concerns millions of citizens across the EU: that of the cultural integration primarily of immigrants.

It is evident that European policies for the social integration of immigrants, both from the Middle East and Africa, do not yield the desired results. The migrants feel marginalized, and the locals feel threatened due to the ghettos that migrants have inevitably created and continue to create.

In democracy, there should be no taboos on these major social issues. Millions of EU citizens will send a message at the polls this coming Sunday, and all of us, both politicians and fellow citizens, should listen to them and take the necessary actions to find a common ground, despite any ideological differences that may divide us.

The Youth at the forefront

In all these efforts for change towards a better life for all Europeans, the youth, especially Millennials and Zoomers, must be at the forefront.

These new generations of Europeans, as the most educated in human history, must first and foremost show solidarity with future generations, something previous generations failed to do. For example, coming out of a period of incredible waste of natural resources globally, due to the dangerous mindset that our planet belongs only to humans and depends on them, we no longer have the luxury of overexploiting these remaining natural resources.

In other words, promoting multidimensional green development is the only way forward, as we are now talking about a critical issue concerning the survival of the human species itself. Clearly, the EU is already a pioneer in such matters and must remain so, despite any obstacles that non-EU states may occasionally pose through the promotion of pseudoscientific theories.

In this context, based on the above and of course many more points that cannot be analyzed in a single article, the discussion on the establishment of a federal state in Europe, following the model of the USA, must finally be opened (related article). Politically, we are already almost there. Our common currency, our common market, our common legislative, executive, and judicial institutions, our European elections, our deep faith in democracy, and the human-centric nature of our societies are all there and now only await one thing: the adoption of a common Constitution and subsequently, the formation of a federal government. What we, the peoples of Europe, have to divide among ourselves is becoming less and less every day compared to what unites us.

Let's take the next step and allow ourselves to become a global superpower, thus ensuring our strategic independence against all those who threaten it.