奧地利的Sabastian Kurz則是遠遠更堅定的右派,靠反對穆斯林移民和同性戀婚姻而崛起政壇,他領導的OVP是老歐洲國家中唯一敢和白左公然對著幹的執政黨。2021年十月6日,奧地利廉政局(Central Prosecutorial Agency for Corruption and Economic Affairs, WKStA)搜索總理府和OVP黨部,扣押大批文件,Kurz隨即被迫辭職。這裏我並不暗示他是無辜的,而是要指出選擇性執法的可能。
波蘭和匈牙利也同樣在穆斯林移民和同性戀婚姻兩件事上和歐盟反復衝突,而且爲了保護主權獨立和政策自主,連帶地對除了提高財政補助之外,所有歐盟擴權的努力都做出强烈抵制。這兩國的差別主要在於波蘭的執政黨PiS(Law and Justice Party)的民意支持率比匈牙利的Fidesz-KDNP低些,所以要在下一次大選(分別是2023年和2022年)被搞到落敗比較容易。不過這兩個執政黨在近年靠著國會裏的絕對多數,對政府的所有部門進行過清洗,連監察和司法人員都全面換崗,想再靠揭發醜聞來推動政黨輪替顯然是行不通的。
於是歐盟只好正面强攻,到CJEU(Court of Justice of the European Union,歐盟法庭,又分普通庭General Court和最高庭European Court of Justice,ECJ)起訴波蘭,聲稱後者的司法改革違反歐盟條約(TEU,Treaty of European Union,又稱Maastricht Treaty),在今年三月一審勝訴(參見《Case C‑824/18》),七月再審終結,維持原判(參見《Case C-791/19》)。於是波蘭政府轉過頭來到本國的憲法法庭(Trybunal Konstytucyjny ,Constitutional Tribunal of Poland)找公道,十月7日宣判,決定本國憲法高於國際條約,所以CJEU的判決無效。
至於無色革命的國際影響,理論上歐盟完成中央集權,對建立多極國際社會有助益。此外匈牙利是著名的親俄派,一旦失去否決權,歐盟可以對俄國做出進一步的挑釁。最近關於天然氣管道(不只是Nord Stream 2,還有被迫取消的South Stream和勉强建成的Balkan Stream;奧地利是Balkan Stream的終點,而匈牙利則剛剛和俄方單獨簽約,接受Balkan Stream的來氣,因而遭受歐盟的嚴厲譴責)、契約條文(歐盟不想簽長期契約;因爲管道的先期投入很高,如果沒有長期契約,俄方根本不可能獨自承擔風險,只能被迫賣身)和能源公司所有權(歐盟要求參股並掌握實際管理權,等同把俄國轉化為殖民地,俄國媒體形容為“Nigeria with snow”,下雪的尼日利亞)的許多不合理要求,已經讓Putin倒儘胃口,很可能會把未來新上綫的天然氣產能全部轉爲向亞洲投放(目前在討論的是Power of Siberia 2,又稱Altai Gas Pipeline,亦即中俄西綫天然氣管道;中方應該趁此機會加力推動,甚至可以擴大其規模,把現在專門供應歐洲的氣田也向東聯係起來),這對中俄友誼有很强的加成作用。
【後註六,2022/04/18】歐盟(實際權力在幕後的建制派精英手中,臺面上的官僚只是打工人)對不聽話的國家領導做打擊,第一步總是指控對方貪腐。正文中討論了奧地利和捷克的案例,而波蘭和匈牙利之所以需要特別升級處理,正因爲其執政黨已經預做準備,清掃了法政系統;當然這也反過來成爲新的罪狀。這次法國大選,Le Pen對既有政治結構形成真正的威脅後不到一周,歐盟已經急急忙忙地做出指控,參見《EU anti-fraud body accuses Marine Le Pen of embezzlement》。然而欲加之罪的操作太過粗糙,效果可疑;畢竟近年歐美右翼民粹興起,連帶地痛恨“假新聞”,其來有自。
The trend we can see thus far appears to predict the emergence of a tighter bound EU, with 'traditional' dissenter states neutralised one after the other. Would it be right to assume it would be a 'liberal'(白左) consensus that goes on to dominate the policy-making apparatuses? (Assuming the current trend continues)
In such a scenario, should China be bracing for the EU to become another irrational quasi-vassal entity for the US (in the same vein as Australia, just far more capable)? It would certainly go against its own interests, but with greater penetration of irrational ideologues (liberals) and erosion of realists and practical-minded politicians, I fear it wouldn't be that far-fetched.On a related tangent, would there be a way to challenge the Anglo-American hegemony on truth, barring/before a precipitous collapse in other areas (e.g. finance, economic, military, etc.)? My gut feeling leans towards this being virtually impossible simply from human cognitive inertia/ossified values. Adding to that is the near-zero penetration of Chinese media in the Western consciousness. A Zimbabwe scandal (a revealed smear campaign subsidised by the US) from September returned no coverage in non-Chinese-affliated media (from a google search). The disparity feels insurmountable to me.P.S. Please feel free to respond in Chinese if that would make it easier for other readers/platforms. I am just limited by my expressive accuracy in Chinese. Thanks a lot for your time.
https://www.marxists.org/chinese/chris-harman/mia-chinese-chris-harman-2007b.htm The rate of profit and the world today以上是一篇左翼經濟學家 克裡斯·哈曼 試圖糾爭主流經濟學的錯誤如果把克里斯‧哈曼對未來世界經濟的預言和資本的擴張結合起來看,就會發現老牌資本主義國家只有不斷擴大投資落後國家才能生存下去,或許1980年代的新自由主義和金融資本化掏空老牌國家的生產力和工業,經濟走向虛擬化和空心化不是偶然而是背後有其根本的必然性,就其原因在於1970年代的利潤率下降基制
While certainly less prone to the whims of the masses (and by extension the capital behind media) than the victims of the colourless revolution described in the article, is Putin's political base strong enough to endure the onslaught of EU-based attacks? It would certainly be in Russia's best interests, but I have little knowledge on the robustness of modern Russia's anti-propaganda capabilities. The younger generation at least appears to have been overwhelmingly brainwashed by the liberal west, in stark contrast with China.
With the recent financial sanction on Hungary for not toeing the line on Russia, Orban has been suggesting Hungary could seek support elsewhere than Brussels (that somewhere more likely than not China). This is undoubtedly more bluff than genuine intention, but is it something viable from the Chinese diplomatic calculus?With the EU increasingly dominated/infiltrated by either ideologues or bureaucrats in American pockets, the Chinese preference for a united Europe (which should be predicated on rational self-interest and thus a counter to US hegemony) would no longer be valid, and virtually impossible considering how leading members invariably chose to cripple themselves this year with energy sanctions. Securing a (albeit conditional) collaborator in Hungary would in my opinion be no less a worthy use of idle capital than the lumbering BRI projects.On the flipside, would it be counterproductive to be associated with the pro-russia actors and lose the (questionable) veneer of neutrality?
There will be no direct financial subsidy from China. It's neither the Chinese way nor to China's interests.
My previous writing on Europe was based on facts on the ground at the time. Now things have obviously evolved. The three key differences are, of course, 1) the new German leadership turns out to be the opposite of reason; 2) Russia has survived the economic blitzkrieg, quite well in fact; 3) the entire 3rd world has stood up against Anglo-Saxon hegemony. Therefore, the following issues are moot: 1) a potential strategic understanding with Europe; 2) making sure that Russia does not collapse; 3) winning support from the 3rd world. The focus in the near future should be on, 1) setting up a new international governing system; 2) replacing dollar as the reserve currency; 3) surviving the current global economic difficulties.
With the big picture explained above, we can easily see that supporting Hungary makes sense, but only in the form of indirect means, fully utilizing the power of Chinese private enterprises.