Austria’s new president Alexander Van Der BellenWell, in Europe it is not just a group of activist attorneys general who are calling for silencing dissent, but the EU itself!
According to Deutsche Wirtschaftsnachrichten ‚Äì DWN ‚Äì (German Business News), “The EU is planning penalties for parties that do not represent ‘the values of the EU“.
The move is apparently in response to the rising wave of right wing parties currently sweeping across Europe ‚Äì especially Austria, which saw a right wing figure almost winning national Presidential elections last Sunday. Europe’s established parties are spooked, and they aren’t coping well with growing opposition and voter dissatisfaction. Their latest solution: to punish it.
A number of EU parliament leaders apparently believe that political parties should not provide a platform for citizens to express their dissatisfaction with failing EU policies. The proposal has been floated by the EU socialists, led by EU Parliament President Martin Schulz and Denmark’s Helle Thorning-Schmidt. The aim, according to DWN, is to prevent “rightwing radical or foreigner-hostile” being represented in the EU Parliament.
Of course the exclusion of radicalism always appears to be a noble cause at first glance, but achieving it by regulation as some leading WU parliamentarians are proposing opens up very dangerous doors to abuse. It would be the first major step to dictating speech and opinion, and that on a continent that likes to claim it protects. The move would be a threat to anyone holding a different opinion on controversial EU issues like energy, fiscal policy, social orientation, economics and immigration.
Skeptics of climate science could be targeted
The proposal reveals the EU’s growing discomfort with the democratically and legitimately led opposition. Brussels is in fact (unwittingly) sending a terrible message: Democracy is okay, but only if you agree with us. That’s arrogance, and it should be no surprise voters are punishing the established politicians by voting against them. These people seem to think dissenters are need of upbringing.
