Disappointed by the debate that is developing in Europe, worried about what could happen after the vote in France. Enrico Letta underlines the need for the Union to move together on the total embargo on Moscow. The position of the German chancellery, according to which a stop to Russian gas would not stop the war, negatively surprises the dem secretary, convinced that a total stop to Russian gas is the way to go, although not without difficulties.
“The impact of a German decision would be very strong and I hope there will be no disengagement”, explains Letta in a conference to the Foreign Press. We are in favor of a complete embargo of energy sources arriving from Russia. The sooner you get there the better. I think it is an unsustainable contradiction that we pour millions of euros into the coffers of the Russian Federation every day. I think this contradiction must be resolved “.
Appreciation, therefore, for the work carried out by the government in search of alternative channels from what comes from Moscow. Yesterday is the government mission in Angola and Congo, followed by that in Algeria. However, for Letta “there is a need for choices at a European level. On this we are a bit shy”.
What comes from Berlin, however, is a real slowdown. Chancellor Olaf Scholz is adamant that “if Putin was sensitive to economic issues he would never have started this crazy war”. For Scholz, in short, “it is not a question of earning money, but of the fact that we want to avoid a dramatic economic crisis, with the loss of millions of jobs and factories that would never reopen”. For this reason, the German Chancellor continues, “it is my responsibility to say that we cannot allow it”.
Together with the confrontation on the embargo, Letta is committed belly to earth to give maximum visibility to the proposal of a European Confederation that can quickly bring countries like Ukraine into the European family “already this year”. All this, without altering the rules governing enlargement. ”
A European Confederation that is above the Union and that gives ownership to those countries that require it to enter the European family “, is the formula used by the secretary dem, for which” if we do not take a positive initiative as Europeans in these countries will strengthen a pro-American sentiment as opposed to a pro-European sentiment “.
Letta is well aware of what happened on the occasion of the first enlargement, when countries such as Poland, Romania and Hungary waited up to 14 years before being able to sit on the EU Council. An error and a risk, for the secretary dem: “Either we build a courageous change of perspective of Europe or we will find ourselves in a cul de sac. In these days it is clear that Romano Prodi was right in making the enlargement of Europe . The fact that today Europe holds Poland, Slovenia and Romania together is positive. In the last seven years a rift has been produced between the founding countries and the Central and Eastern countries and I think that Orban’s sovereignty and his narrative it would have had less capacity to take root if there had been a different approach to enlargement in the 1990s, if there had been entry into the European family and then entry into the “proper” Union.
But it is not just a question of opportunity. There are promises to be kept to the Ukrainian people. “We are wrong in making promises to the candidate countries without putting in place concrete and serious skills compared to those promised. With the current rules, in 2036 we will welcome Ukraine’s entry into the European Union. Is it credible and reasonable with the promises that all European leaders are making to the Ukrainian people? I think it is on the verge of irresponsible “.
To these European “shyness” is added the French vote. Emmanuel Macron is given the advantage, also thanks to the appeal launched by the leaders of Portugal, Spain and Germany. However, it is not the time to rest on our laurels, because the stakes go far beyond the Elysée: “If Marine Le Pen wins, it would be the end of Community Europe. It would be Putin’s greatest victory. “, Letta says:”I do not think it possible that Europe can go ahead with an anti-European representative of France“.
Also because “Le Pen’s choice to leave the integrated command of NATO” if she leads the Republic, “is the sign of an isolationist policy”. In the meantime, however, the secretary can draw some important indications from the French vote on what could soon happen in Italy as well. There are two lessons for Letta: the Ukrainian affair has little impact on the domestic vote; the vote of a section of the electorate that ends in Melenchon is anything but populist and nationalist.
“I returned to Italy to prevent the Democratic Party from ending up like the French left”, recalls Letta: “In France, the whole field that I aspire to represent here with the Democratic Party is divided: one piece voted for Macron, one piece Melanchon . A position of the reformist left in France no longer exists. Regardless of how Melanchon represents those ideas, many pro-Europeans voted for him “.