Realities Prove Stronger Than Principles

The European Union has decided it is time that diplomatic sanctions against Austria be canceled. Vienna called this “the victory of common sense.” Brussels considers it a victory of its own. The leaders of the EU candidate countries have breathed a collective sigh of relief: now even if their accession be blocked, it will not be by Vienna which had threatened to veto any EU expansion. This pretty senseless affair has ended, but only as a specific example and a trend. The sanctions imposed on February 4 by 14 EU member countries, and later by some Western leaders and Israel (which has not so far canceled them) envisaged minimizing contacts with Austrian representatives at all levels, refusal of official (but not working) visits, and so forth. The official reason for this was that one-third of Austrian voters cast their ballots for the Liberty Party, whose ideology is closer to Nazism rather than established democratic standards. As a result, the Liberty Party entered the government, which, however, was no different from its predecessor.

From the formal standpoint, Vienna, in threatening with identical response (holding a referendum on its people’s attitude toward the EU, vetoing important issues) was right. The Liberty Party is quite legal, it was supported by most voters disappointed at the achievements of the Social Democrats, and the idea to impose immigration quotas is popular not only in the West, but has been successfully implemented for years by various governments (for example, by the US since 1920 — Ed.). From the juridical viewpoint, the sanctions lacked any basis. Apprehensions concerning the occupation of the labor market by the Easterners — Poles, Czechs, Hungarians, and others less exacting than the Germans or French — are shared by all Western societies. As recent events in Germany have shown, xenophobia and racism are not at all overcome, quite the contrary. And if such ideas and fears turned out more attractive than democratic principles, then there must be something wrong with the policies of the ruling parties, with the general ideology of European unification, and ultimately, with the set of values existing in postwar Europe. Fighting symptoms, like the hysteria concerning the Liberty Party, does not cure the disease, which they either overlooked or are afraid to treat.

On the other hand, the Austrian case has shown that the theory of limited sovereignty advocated primarily by the US and UK, does not work. For Western Europe has decided that it is better to preserve solidarity and even illusory unity, than to take things to their logical conclusion like last year in Yugoslavia. Perhaps principles should be held dearer then the truth of life. And maybe not.

The moral defeat of the EU in the Austria case along with its economic defeat in the battle between the euro and the dollar do not yet justify saying that in the EU everything is wrong. Otherwise it would not be more attractive than the former Soviet bloc. The EU is simply not something complete, fixed in stone, especially on the eve of the radical changes, to which both EU structures and the societies of EU member states have proven to be completely unprepared. It is also true that Western society is also prone to its ills as well as to a certain dose of hypocrisy and double standards in its behavior and politics. The Austrian case provides an opportunity to learn many lessons — both for the West and the East. Provided there is someone who wants to learn.