The policy of the EU, “change through trade,” has failed and did not lead to the result that the world became a safer place. It was said that you do not kill your business partners for a long time because it would be stupid to ruin your business in this way.
The leading democracies have failed to bring trade in line with a set of values. Why politicians believe that giving money to dictatorships will make them more democratic is a mystery to many people. Why democracies do not demand from dictators that if the business is to be done with their country, the framework conditions must be right beforehand.
Many companies that operate internationally have to pay more and more attention to the social standards of their suppliers. Why is it not possible for the EU to demand the rule of law and freedom of the press from countries with which trade is conducted? How is it possible that banks do business with criminals and then trim and medium-sized companies are supposed to make sure that the wages of their suppliers are appropriate? It is wrong to have such standards, but it does not matter that democracies do business with dictatorships as long as they pay fair wages.
Democracies are degenerating more and more into bureaucracies that hide behind laws and forms. Why are there fewer and fewer states that do not find democracy attractive and reject it as a form of government? Because many dictators consider democracy weak. Because they see that many democratically elected politicians do not stand behind the propagated values and are also prepared to defend them.
The impression is that there is a lot of talk in democracy but no action. The argument that people are free to speak their minds is not enough. There must also be a forward strategy for democracy. It would be necessary for the world to be convinced of democracy, and therefore it must be strong. Democracy must defend itself, and democracy must not allow itself to be blackmailed.
Politicians who deny the Ukrainian people even the freedom of choice with whom they want to ally tell us their understanding of democracy. To believe that NATO enlargement was a mistake and that it was right not to include Ukraine only shows their own egoistic and geopolitical short-sightedness. At this point, democracy is betrayed and untrustworthy.
Today Europe is blackmailable because we are dependent on energy supplied by a dictator, and now we lose Ukraine as a strong partner in the agricultural sector. A country that has developed democratically and is so important in Europe for us.
It is a sad day for democracy. Our politicians have done so little in the past to defend our democracy and had so little foresight. Sadly, many do not realise what is happening in Ukraine. We see that people are celebrating the carnival, warming in Ukraine people fighting for their freedom and leaving their lives. But if we are not ready to defend our idea of democracy, then a warm home will be the least of our problems.
It should be clear to everyone that raw materials are finite, and the distribution struggle has been ongoing for a long time. Politicians should look at the world map and then realise how much agricultural land is controlled by states like Russia in the meantime. Climate change robs us of the area of Belgium every month. We cannot afford the luxury of losing democracies to dictators.