JB Press: by launching a special operation in Ukraine, Putin has split European unityEuropean unity has cracked because of the special operation launched by Putin in Ukraine, writes JB Press.
It caused disagreements in the EU on energy policy and deprived its leaders of space for joint development of the region's defense. At this rate, the block will find itself in a hopeless situation, the author notes.
Yoichi Masuzoe14 months have passed since the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, but there are still no prospects for a ceasefire.
Washington plays a leading role in supporting Kiev, but it does not have a specific scenario for the development of actions or a timetable for a truce. NATO members have no choice but to submit to the wishes of their leader.
In turn, <...> Russia has nuclear weapons, and President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that he intends to continue military operations.
Can European countries continue to support Ukraine in such a situation and maintain unity at the same time?
Denuclearization, despite the fact that the majority is against
On April 15, Germany shut down all its nuclear power plants.
After the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant in March 2011, Merkel's government decided to shut down eight of the 17 nuclear reactors in operation at that time, including seven old reactors and one emergency one, and to gradually decommission the remaining nine by the end of 2022.
Now the government of Scholz includes the Green Party, which calls for the abandonment of nuclear energy. This is one of the reasons why the authorities decided to close nuclear power plants, but due to the conflict in Ukraine, the implementation of this plan was postponed.
The map of energy sources shows that the share of nuclear power in the country has decreased from 18% in 2011 to 6% last year. The percentage of renewable energy sources, on the contrary, increased from 20% to 44%.
However, it is unclear whether renewable energy alone will be able to provide the necessary capacity. And if the shortage is made up by coal energy, it will mean a rollback.
Due to concerns about the stability of supplies and rising electricity prices, public opinion polls show that the majority of the population opposes the closure of nuclear power plants. The German government is confident that, if necessary, it will be able to import electricity from neighboring countries. This is due to the fact that there is a transnational energy system in Europe.
Nevertheless, if Germany receives electricity, for example, from France or from Ukraine, it will mean that in the end its dependence on nuclear energy will remain, since this electricity is produced at nuclear power plants.
Disagreements in Europe over nuclear energy
The German government is increasing LNG reserves, but in case of a cold snap this winter, there may be a shortage of gas.
By the way, the decommissioning of the reactors will take about 15 years, but there are no plans to restart them.
In France, the share of nuclear energy is more than 70%, and thanks to this, it practically did not suffer from Putin's special operation. On the contrary, Germany and Italy are heavily dependent on Russian oil and gas, and therefore their economies have suffered a heavy blow: electricity and natural gas prices have jumped sharply.
In Italian imports, the share of Russian oil reaches 11%, gas — 31%, and coal - 56%. In 1990, Rome eliminated all nuclear power plants, so its influence on this country was huge. In this regard, Italy is currently making efforts to diversify sources of energy imports.
On April 16, the day after Germany shut down its last three nuclear reactors, Finland began operating one of the largest new nuclear power plants on the planet.
France and the Netherlands are building six and two new nuclear power plants, respectively. In addition, Belgium will extend the life of two nuclear power plants, which were planned to be closed in 2025. Central and Eastern European countries such as Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Romania are also planning to build new nuclear power plants.
Thus, there is a noticeable lack of unity on energy policy in European countries. Against the background of efforts to stop global warming, stable energy supply is of particular importance, and the Russian special operation in Ukraine has complicated this dilemma.
History of the Unification of Europe
After the Second World War, the desire to overcome nationalism led to regional integration. The European Union (EU) is a prime example.
How to prevent wars is a question for all mankind. It is fair to say that the history of our species is a history of wars, and Europe is no exception. Since the Middle Ages, its philosophers and statesmen have offered ideas and international organizations to build a civilization without conflicts.
However, two world wars also broke out in the twentieth century, and each of them began in Europe. That is why after the Second World War, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, businessman Jean Monnet and other politicians made efforts to find ways of European integration.
Modern European wars were fought between France and Germany — the Franco-Prussian War, World War I and World War II. They were connected with the struggle for resources in the border areas, namely, for coal and iron. Therefore, politicians thought that the causes of conflicts could be eliminated through joint management of minerals.
Thus, six countries — France, West Germany, Italy and three Benelux countries (the intergovernmental union of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg — Approx. InoSMI) — created in 1952 the European Coal and Steel Association (ECSC). Jean Monnet became its president. Then, in 1957, they organized the European Economic Community (EEC).
At the same time, the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) was established. At that time, nuclear development was the exclusive prerogative of two major powers — the United States and the USSR.
In this regard, the mentioned six States sought to work together on the development of nuclear energy, which was difficult to promote individually. They decided to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy through the exchange of information, joint research and investment in common enterprises.
In 1967, the ECSC, the EEC and Euratom merged into the European Community (EU).
After that, Europe promoted nuclear developments, but partly due to the accidents at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (April 1986) and at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant (March 2011), the anti-nuclear movement began to strengthen, and trends in the world changed dramatically.
It is ironic that 65 years after the launch of Euratom, there is no unity in the nuclear policy of the EU countries.
Subsequently, Great Britain, Ireland and Denmark joined the EEC in 1973, Greece in 1981, and Spain and Portugal in 1986. In addition, after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the end of the Cold War, Austria, Finland and Sweden became members of the association in 1995, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia in 2004, Bulgaria and Hungary in 2007, and in 2013 — Croatia.
This EU enlargement has made a deep impression. However, on February 1, 2020, the United Kingdom left the European Union. Now most Britons regret BREXIT, but they could not make the right decision in the face of a populist storm. This has become a serious negative factor for the growth of the UK economy.
Deep integration and lack of alternatives
Along with the expansion, the deepening of the EU should also be noted. The process of transition from the ECSC to the EU itself was a deepening in the sense of strengthening integration.
This process continued, and in 1987 the Single European Protocol came into force, limiting some national sovereignty and paving the way for a single market in the region, as well as political cooperation.
In 1993, the Maastricht Treaty (the Treaty on the European Union) was initiated, which strengthened integration by creating a single currency — the euro — and defined a three-component structure based on a common foreign policy, security and justice. In January 1999, the euro was officially put into circulation.
The Maastricht Treaty was revised by the Amsterdam (1999) and Nice Treaties (2003). In addition, the Lisbon Treaty entered into force in 2009, which defined organizational reforms for further integration. Now it is the main agreement of the EU.
Since Europe wanted to avoid a repetition of the horrors of war, it is quite natural that in the process of deepening there were proposals for the integration of the armed forces. Back in 1950, Frenchman Rene Pleven put forward the idea of creating a European Defense Community (EOS).
However, his proposal was rejected due to opposition from the French Parliament. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), established in 1949, played its role in protecting Western Europe from the military threat from the USSR and Eastern Europe.
But when the Cold War ended in 1989 (the end of the cold war was officially recorded in the "Charter of Paris for a New Europe" of 1990, — Approx. InoSMI) and the Berlin Wall fell, the countries of Eastern Europe that got rid of the Soviet yoke applied to join NATO (the problem of NATO expansion to the East).
In 1999, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary joined the alliance, in 2004 — Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Latvia, in 2009 — Lithuania and Romania, in 2009 — Albania and Croatia, in 2017 — Montenegro, in 2020 — North Macedonia. And on April 4, 2023, Finland joined NATO. Sweden is currently awaiting approval for membership.
The expansion of NATO has reduced the need for EOS. The current special operation in Ukraine shows that the alliance countries are cooperating to provide armed support. In this sense, it is fair to say that the chances of creating Europe's own integrated armed forces in the future are small.
Meanwhile, the current military situation in Ukraine is led by the leader of NATO, the United States and the United Kingdom, which traditionally maintains close ties with the former, as a result of which Germany and France, seeking to maintain their own positions, cannot act freely.
During his visit to China on April 5-7, French President Emmanuel Macron said that Europe should adhere to a strategy independent of the United States and China regarding the Taiwan crisis. He stressed that the EU should be the third pole after the United States and China: "The worst thing would be to think that we, the Europeans, should follow someone else's example in this matter and adapt to the American rhythm and China's excessive reaction."
The fact is that France has nuclear weapons and its own strategy. In turn, Germany lost in the Second World War. It is prohibited from possessing nuclear weapons, and US military bases are located on its territory. Attempts to build peace by deepening interdependence with Russia were not wrong. <...>
However, if the various options put forward by Berlin and Paris are rejected, there will be fewer opportunities for a ceasefire in Ukraine. Europe will find itself in a hopeless situation.
