EU on brink: Sweden’s ‘mourning’ for UK after Brexit ‘could quickly morph’ into divorce
THE EUROPEAN UNION was under threat after a political commentator warned Sweden’s “mourning” for the UK over Brexit “could quickly morph” into the country’s own divorce from Brussels.
Tensions inside the bloc continue to grow, despite Brussels now appearing to have its vaccine rollout more under control. Statistics for May shows that more than 20 percent of the population of member states had now received a vaccine, with Malta leading the way with half of its citizens having the jab. Yet, this has not stopped a rise in euroscepticism throughout the EU, with the memories of the European Commission – led by President Ursula von der Leyen – and its handling of the pandemic still fresh in some people’s minds.
The rollout threatened diplomatic ties with nations such as the UK and Australia, as a row over whether vaccines made inside the bloc should be released before member states had received their share of the jab.
While the EU struggled to keep up with demand, the UK has appeared to flourish away from the shackles of Brussels – with Britain able to fund and order as many vaccines as it wishes.
The UK’s approach to go all out in the early days of the vaccine rollout was a world away from the EU, which took longer to offering funding to pharmaceutical companies, and purchase jabs.
This has led some to question whether other member states should remain inside the bloc.
In the immediate aftermath of Brexit in 2016, David Wemer – a Europe Fellow at Young Professionals in Foreign Policy – outlined how, and why, Sweden could be next to follow the UK’s path.
He noted how the European project had “long struggled with the dual missions of integrating states into a supranational federal entity and the uniting of the whole European continent”.
Mr Wemer wrote in the Diplomatic Courier: “Expansion to the United Kingdom, the Nordic countries, and Eastern Europe signalled that the founding states favoured a pan-European project over full integration.
“As the Union continues its decade-long malaise, however, that belief could be eroding, as core states see full integration as the only way to save the institutions they worked so hard to create.
“If leaders in the core states endorse this view, it puts politicians in Sweden and elsewhere in the unenviable position of choosing between the Union and their nation’s coveted sovereignty opt-outs.”
He added: “Brexit clearly shows the more likely outcome: Sweden’s ‘mourning of sorrow’ could quickly morph into a heartbreaking divorce, while Brussels may achieve more union but become tragically less European.”
Sweden and the UK have long held a solid friendship while inside the bloc, with reports showing that between 2009 and 2015 the two countries voted together on 88 percent of ballots.
The nations also successfully led an unprecedented charge to secure the first ever EU budget cut back in 2013.
These concerns over whether Sweden could leave the EU were recommended by a panel of influential commentators and politicians, who demanded the Nordic powerhouses of Denmark and Stockholm loosen their ties with the bloc.
Mark Brolin, Jan-Erik Gustafsson, Helle Hagenau, Ulla Klötzer and Erna Bjarnadóttir – from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland – co-authored an opinion piece, which also outlined how the EU would turn against voters who criticised the bloc.
They said that “due to the growing scepticism of voters towards the EU, many member states are struggling with political instability at home”.
The panel noted that there was also “growing friction” between member states which have “incompatible goals” within the EU.
The piece, published in Aftonbladet in 2017, continued: “Thus, the so-called pacifier of peace has become a source of disagreement.
“Public debate is more constrained than ever since democratisation; the treatment of EU critics seems to have set low moral standards.
“And the people? EU spokesmen gave voters a top rating while supporting the Union.
“Now, when the voice of the electorate is mixed with scepticism, a large part of Europeans are described as narrow-minded, old-fashioned and isolationist or in the power of ‘dark forces’.”
Clive Hammond
source:express.co.uk