BELGRADE, THURSDAY

“IF YOU WANTED proof that the European Union is incapable of defending itself, Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen’s performance before Donald Trump is more than enough.”

The words of historian, Professor Winston De Gaulle, whose seminal work Brexit Is Foolish But The European Union Is Almost A Corpse, won the Frederick The Great Prize for speaking truth to power in 2018.

“It’s a committee, wrapped in a focus group, tied up in red tape. If there was a European Union fabric it would be velvet. And the cushion should be its symbol. It is weak and leaderless and utterly directionless right now. There was a time when it had some momentum but that all seems to have vanished. If it’s not already dead, it’s giving a good impression. One is reminded of the last decades of the Hapsburg Empire without the style. Or the Ottoman caliphate without the exotic atmosphere. Look, the Turks are back front and centre in the Middle East, perhaps trying to re-establish the caliphate. And even once wretched Russia has dragged herself from a fourth-rate to a second-rate power. So, even in its current form, the EU might rejuvenate. There’s nothing like a brutal humiliation by a crass bully in front of the whole world for getting people motivated. But it won’t happen with the current set-up. Political hacks and washed out national politicians clog its corridors. Mediocrity is its guiding principle. Comfort its only aim.”