OPINION:
Crises help us sort out our priorities. The global COVID-19 pandemic makes it clear that for all of the grand rhetoric of our pan-national global organizations, that when it comes to security and health, it’s every nation for themselves. The merits of both Trump’s “America First” and Britain’s “Take back control” narratives have been decisively validated by the global catastrophe we are now living through.
The very first objective of the European Union, as expressed on its official webpage, lists “promoting the welfare of its member states.” Yet, Europe’s behavior during the coronavirus has been more akin to President Trump’s and Brexit Britain’s approach of putting the interests of nation first. While this posture is completely appropriate and logical, it exposes the many failures of globalization, as well as the hypocrisy and denial of the multilateral approach to governing.
The EU takes every opportunity to criticize leaders and movements that promote national primacy. Examples include its derision of Mr. Trump’s America, its shameful treatment of the U.K. fulfilling its democratic mandate to withdraw from its ranks, and its unreasonable approach to Viktor Orban standing up for his country and its Judeo-Christian values.
But as the coronavirus crisis demonstrates, when the chips are down, and they are pretty alarming at the moment, instead of joining together to provide relief for, say, an Italy on fire, instead the EU abandons it lofty principles of collective responsibility and defaults to the same Trump, Orban or Johnson postures of putting nation first, that it publicly despises.
The extreme hypocrisy becomes starker considering the border closing farce; farce because the EU turned around and followed Mr. Trump’s actions five days after castigating him for imposing travel restrictions. On March 12, the White House, on the advice of medical experts announced a 30-day ban on travelers from Europe. Dr. Anthony Fauci explained: “Of the 35 or more [U.S.] states that have infections, 30 of them now, most recently, have gotten them from a travel-related case from that region. So it was pretty compelling that we needed to turn off the source from that region.”
The World Health Organization, another supranational, global organization was outraged, warning that travel bans could violate international health regulations. The EU released a statement indicating its ire at the move: “The Coronavirus is a global crisis, not limited to any continent and it requires cooperation rather than unilateral action,” adding indignantly, “The European Union disapproves of the fact that the U.S. decision to impose a travel ban was taken unilaterally and without consultation.”
But then in a breathtaking U-turn five days later, on March 17, the EU announced it was following exactly the plan Mr. Trump implemented, closing external borders for 30 days. The EU set the policy but said it was up to the individual member states to implement.
While bodies are tragically piling up in Italy, EU colleagues are closing borders and leaving their beleaguered neighbor to fend for itself. The very foundation of cooperation for the sake of well-being of members has been exposed as a fantasy, a lie. Shockingly, when Italy asked for life support, the European Central Bank refused. To make matters worse, Germany, the strongman of the EU, responded during Italy’s massacre by halting the export of much-needed medical supplies.
The ineptness of the supranational EU was by no means confined to Italy’s crisis. When the gravity of the pandemic dawned, the multination body’s response was to cut and run rather than lead. Individual members were left to make their own clumsy decisions, which, when the dust settled, meant all national borders closed.
All of this is so revealing, not just because it exposes the deep hypocrisy of globalist elites, but because it validates President Trump and Brexit Britain’s views of the importance of nationhood rather than globalism. It also demonstrates that when push comes to shove, even the most sanctimonious European leader will throw over supranational responsibility for self-interest, “European identity” be damned — as it should be.
Winston Churchill spoke about the critical importance of sovereignty — of being “masters of our own fate” and “captains of our soul.” We must ensure that the wisdom and insight that emerge as a result of this health and economic catastrophe influence public policy moving forward. In a crisis such as COVID-19, the failures of globalism become starkly apparent. Every nation must pursue its own self-interest and the voice of supranational sovereignty-leaching organizations should be far less-heeded moving forward.
• Lee Cohen, a writer, commentator and research fellow of the Danube Institute, was adviser on Europe to the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.
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