FACES AND PLACES: To EU or not to EU... (07/17/05)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

To EU or not to EU...

A number of prominent Americans - including Henry Kissinger and Madeline Albright - are supporting Ukraine's membership in the European Union.

Prominent Europeans, on the other hand, primarily French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac, have voiced opposition. For once, they may be right. There are many reasons why Ukraine should approach EU membership cautiously.

The first reason is Ukraine's tentative national identity. Despite the amazing success of the Orange Revolution, Ukraine's self-concept is still a work in progress. In some ways, eastern Ukraine remains more Russian than Ukrainian. There are still those in Ukraine who are pushing for the recognition of Russian as Ukraine's second official language. In his recent book, "Clash of Civilizations," Samuel Huntington describes Ukraine as "a cleft country with two distinct cultures."

Ukraine's religio-cultural issues remain unresolved. The Russian Orthodox Church is Ukraine's largest religious body and this is not a good thing. Russian Orthodoxy constitutes the core of the Russian soul and has served as a vehicle of Russification for centuries. The Russian patriarch has never been amenable to the notion of true religious freedom.

Another reason to proceed with wariness regarding EU membership is Europe itself. Old Europe has lost its moral compass. The nihilistic thinking of Nietzche, Sartre, Freud, Marx, Heidegger, Marcuse and Foucault have replaced the universal ideals of Aristotle, Aquinas, Erasmus, Locke and Montesquieu. Irreverance and irrelevance have become the guiding ideals of Europe's intellectual elite and the cultural consequences are devastating. In his book "From Dawn to Decadence," Jacques Barzun suggests that Western civilization has entered a period of malaise, a kind of dissatisfaction with the present, demonstrated "by the search in all directions for new faiths, for new directions." The Germans have a name for this type of world weariness: "weltschmertz."

Europe's elite believes that it was nationalism that led to the horrors of two world wars. If nationalism was the problem, then a cultural and socialist union of European countries, sanctioned by a 300-page Constitution and led by an ever-expanding bureaucracy, was the answer. Ukraine has just unshackled itself from just such an arrangement; it was called the Soviet Union. Is there any real difference between the concepts of "the new Soviet man" and "the new European." Is Ukraine ready to lose its long-sought sovereignty only to be swallowed up again? Nationalism is not a bad word in today's Ukraine.

Europe's elite appears Christophobic, as evidenced by the EU Constitution, which neglects to mention Europe's rich Judeo-Christian heritage. This is not an accident. In his book "The Cube and the Cathedral," George Weigel writes that Europe's elite lacks spiritual roots, fears the future, and places personal interests and "rights" over universal truths and ethics. While people in Ukraine are re-discovering their Christianity, Western Europeans are abandoning theirs. While people in Ukraine are building churches, Europeans are closing theirs.

Another example of Europe's transformation is the diminishing family. Europe's overall fertility rate is 1.5 children per family. With the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain now sanctioning gay marriage, the population meltdown will continue. At the same time, the Islamic population in Europe is exploding - 700,000 Muslims in the Netherlands alone. Muslims in Europe have large families and they are not assimilating. The result of this type of "colonization" is unclear. According to British historian Niall Ferguson: "A creeping Islamicization of a decadent Christendom is one conceivable result; while the old Europeans get even older and their religious faith weaker, the Muslim colonies within their cities get larger and more overt in their religious observance."

Islamic inroads into Europe is not a new problem for Western civilization. There was a time when Europe vigorously resisted the military onslaught of Islam, culminating first at the gates of Paris in 732 and then at the gates of Vienna in 1683. Resistance by Europe is no longer an option.

In a well-documented study, titled "Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis," Bat Ye'or describes "Europe's evolution from a Judeo-Christian civilization, with important post-Enlightenment secular elements, into a post-Judeo-Christian civilization that is subservient to the ideology of jihad and the Islamic powers that propagate it." This approach has evolved into a virulent anti-Americanism which, according to the author is the result of a "profound resentment that cowardly or impotent societies, which have chosen surrender through fear of conflict, have toward those who stand strong."

At a NATO summit in Istanbul in June, 2004, President George W. Bush blamed autocratic Arab rulers for fostering a culture of extremism and resentment of the West. He recognized European complicity by declaring: "In the last 60 years many in the West have added to this distrust by excusing tyranny in the region, hoping to purchase stability at the price of liberty."

Ukraine has felt the sword of Islam throughout its history and should avoid falling prey to Islamic blackmail. A recent political conference in Kyiv ostensibly condemning Zionism reportedly included a strong Arab presence. This is a step in the wrong direction.

Europe's faltering economy is another problem. An overly generous welfare system, labor protections, a progressive tax structure, zoning restrictions on large retailers and a work force that has lost the work ethic, does not augur well for Western Europeans. French workers complain about their 35-hour work week and six weeks of annual vacation. Italian workers go on strike just because they can. Meanwhile, millions of Ukrainians and other workers from the "new Europe" fill in the labor gaps.

Ukraine has a bright future. In some ways Ukraine today is like Ireland was in the 1970s. For over a century, immigration was the only choice for Irish seeking a better life. Today, Ireland is an affluent nation, a "Celtic Tiger" with a market-oriented leadership, a young, educated and eager work force, low taxes and a business climate that attracts foreign investment. Ukraine has a young, educated and eager work force, and a market-oriented president. The model for Ukraine should be new Ireland, not old Europe!

Myron Kuropas's e-mail address is: kuropas@comcast.net.

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