EU grip on European unity is challenged

As ceremonies held in recent weeks to mark the 70th anniversary of the arrival of Soviet troops at the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz in Poland reminded us, a united Europe, one that gives members a common purpose and something approaching parity of esteem for all its peoples, is a relatively new concept.

It is a federation forged just decades ago to try to ensure that our baser instincts are never again allowed wreak the carnage and horror unleashed just a lifetime ago.

That the European Union has, to a great degree, realised those objectives is a redemption of sorts, a victory for the better instincts of humanity.

It is one to be proud of and one worth defending.

The EU seems a robust entity— and let us hope and pray that it is — but escalating events, internally and externally, may yet show it as a delicate flower.

It has presided, more or less, over a peaceful continent and brought great prosperity to the great majority of its member states’ citizens but today it faces two huge and some minor challenges that will test its — our — ability to focus on the bigger, more important picture.

Any appreciation of how the EU has improved the lives of millions of Europeans in almost unimaginable ways must make any assessment of the escalating crisis in Ukraine a cause for great concern.

French president François Hollande and German chancellor Angela Merkel were to hold talks in Moscow with Russian president Vladimir Putin yesterday to try to end fighting in east Ukraine.

The atmosphere before the talks opened did not seem optimistic, especially as US vice-president Joe Biden accused Russia of “continuing to escalate the conflict” and “ignoring every agreement”.

Suggestions that America might arm Ukraine’s troops to help them fight pro-Russian forces hardly helped create an air of possibility around the Moscow talks either, but it is a sign that diplomacy is stretched almost to its limits to find a resolution acceptable to all parties.

However, Ms Merkel’s decision to go to Moscow can be seen as a positive sign, as the German chancellor said she would not meet with Mr Putin unless there was a real possibility of making progress. Let us all hope that her instincts are vindicated.

Internally, the EU faces the threat posed by the new Greek government, one elected to deliver on promises that seem far beyond the reach of a bankrupt country.

Just days after it was elected Greece’s new government was isolated at its first meeting with senior eurozone officials. However, prime minister Alexis Tsipras and his new cabinet will have a chance to put forward proposals at a meeting of finance ministers next week.

The Greeks will go to that meeting with some degree of anxiety as German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble left very little wriggle room earlier this week when he met Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis.

We are, it seems, approaching something like an endgame on the crisis in Ukraine and the Greek debt debacle.

How those issues are resolved will define the EU’s capacity to hold Europe together for years to come.