Further Troubles for EU Solidarity: Italy and Slovenia

A new Right-wing government has taken over in Italy. A coalition between the Five Star Movement (M5S) and Lega (formerly the Northern League) has swept a largely anti-EU group into power and you can be sure the folks in Brussels and Berlin are not happy.

The League is on record for wanting to withdraw Italy from the Eurozone and yet being in a coalition their plans are likely to be modified if not thwarted. M5S has made significant gains in recent years but the practicalities of governance have led it to soften some of its positions, especially with regard to Europe.

On the one hand many have breathed a sigh of relief as the unstable situation in Italy had dragged on for months and yet everyone is waiting to see just how stable this new government will be? The ink hasn't even dried yet on the new government charter and already there are hints of trouble both in terms of fiscal policy and with regard to the status of immigrants.

Additionally while many American Rightists and Evangelicals are likely to celebrate the accession of Lega and the new coalition, Evangelicals in Italy are somewhat worried. The new government has extremist ties, and certainly loose links (as they may be charitably described) to ultra-nationalist and fascist movements. If a crackdown comes on religious bodies, it will of course be primarily directed against Islam under the auspices of stopping extremism. And yet, the pro-Roman Catholic impulse of the Italian Right may generate difficulties for Protestants and in particular Evangelicals and other 'sectarian' groups.

Brussels must additionally face further defeat and insult in that the Slovenians have now given an election victory to a Right-wing anti-immigrant party, one endorsed by Hungary's Viktor Orban no less. No one knows yet what trouble (if any) this will bring, but it sends a signal to the EU. Since a majority was not attained they will have to form a coalition but just the fact that they came out on top of the election is itself surprising. No one would have imagined this even a decade ago.

Slovenia is a very small nation with little overall impact in terms of EU economics and politics and yet one could say this shift marks something of a bellwether. Of all the nations in Europe, members of the former Warsaw Pact and the survivor states of Yugoslavia seemed (at one time) the most pro-European and pro-EU. Serbia of course was always an exception, perhaps the lone consistent exception within Europe. The V4 nations have admittedly developed an ambiguous relationship with Brussels and yet in the 1990's and early 2000's all were eager to join the union.

The Yugoslav nations (apart from Serbia) were for security reasons zealous to enter the EU and formally join 'modern' Western Europe. Of all these nations, Slovenia was the model. It was the one nation that transitioned in a relatively smooth way out of Yugoslavia and was the example for the other nations of the region. There was some fighting involved in Ljubljana's secession but the war (in the summer of 1991) barely lasted a week.

I visited on several occasions during the 1990's and it was clear the nation was on the rise and already pursuing a trajectory that would bring it both into the EU and NATO. Slovenia was part of the big 2004 wave of nations that joined the two organisations. That too was a turning point and sent a strong signal to Moscow.

What a different time that was. The whole spirit of Europe was different. It was a time of new beginnings and optimism. The Scorpions song 'Wind of Change' caught the zeitgeist of the period. I was never really a Scorpions fan but every once in awhile my wife and I like to watch the video, not for the song per se, but just to remember that time... watching the wall come down and all the elation and enthusiasm of those years. Maybe we like it because it makes us feel young again... back when you still had the optimism of being young adults and life hasn't quite happened to you yet.

While Slovenia's status is not yet in jeopardy, for the public to express this kind of displeasure just fourteen years after joining the EU is something of a blow.