The Slovenia Times

Finance describes EU as "eternal loser"

Politics

Ljubljana - The newspaper Finance portrays Europe as "eternal loser" in Tuesday's commentary whose headline says the same, listing how the EU, unlike the US, has failed to promptly deal with every crisis since 2008.

Turning to the latest crisis, the Russian war on Ukraine, the paper writes that after initial unity over sanctions that hurt only individual Russians, European countries fell out over sanctions that also hurt Europe.

"There is no gas embargo in sight. Germany needs it too badly. The embargo on Russian oil is incomplete and belated.

"The Hungarians are laughing in Brussels' face with new nuclear reactors that are to be built by a Russian company, with a loan from Russia. Western sanctions against Russia will have to take years to break the Russian economy, and as early as this year they will cause problems in Europe, perhaps even a recession," the paper writes, citing the Economist.

"At the first cold snap, Europe's resolve to do what is right in the case of Ukraine and Russia will face an even greater test. Cold radiators will quickly erode solidarity with dying Ukrainians."

Wondering when Europe 'emerged stronger' from a crisis the last time, the paper concludes that the EU has a huge bureaucratic apparatus, which most often appears to be focusing on things that neither make Europe's economy more competitive nor make people's lives easier.

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