Europe Has a Look in a Distorting Mirror
At UNGA Most Europeans Fail To See the Contradiction Between Words and Actions
More than 30 European leaders are attending the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York, where they are supposedly tackling the world’s most urgent crises. Their speeches, however, revealed much in common: a reluctance to break with support for Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, a lack of commitment to any real peace process for Ukraine, intentionally alienating China, and eyeing Africa’s natural resources.
In his speech, European Council President Charles Michel said that “everyone must look in the mirror” and engage in the renewal of the multilateral framework, yet he—as well as most of the Europeans speaking—failed to see the contradiction between his words and actions.
“Slava Ukraini”
Some European leaders started their speeches by recalling the founding of the UN and the importance this held for Europe after the end of Nazi occupation. French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish President Andrzej Duda invoked this history of occupation to justify continued support for Ukraine. Both framed the current war, more or less explicitly, as the continuation of attempts by Russia to somehow invade the West. However, in their reminiscences, they failed to recognize that without the Red Army, there would probably have been no liberation of Europe at all.
Promises of unwavering support for Ukraine were echoed by at least 17 European leaders. Michel stated that the EU’s backing would last “as long as necessary.” Several others, including representatives from Baltic and Scandinavian countries, reiterated the same. Notably, Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard framed Sweden’s NATO membership in the wake of the Ukraine war as a positive contribution to national security. Belgium’s outgoing Prime Minister Alexander De Croo went a step further, promising additional military aid to Ukraine, specifically at least 30 fighter jets.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for further Western support and ended his address with the slogan “Slava Ukraini,” associated with Nazi collaborators during World War II. Strangely, no one in the (regional) audience seemed to register the irony of hearing this phrase in the same session where the defeat of fascism was referenced.
Israel’s “right to defend itself”
The second favorite topic among Europeans was Israel’s “right to self-defense,” accompanied by predictable condemnations of Hamas. While many leaders paid lip service to the importance of peace and a two-state solution, few acknowledged the true extent of Israeli destruction in Gaza.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez did his best to differentiate himself by highlighting Spain’s efforts to formally recognize and approach Palestine. Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob spoke about meeting two Palestinian girls from Gaza, Sara and Rand, calling for peace, and a chance to live in freedom. “Let me send a clear message to the Prime Minister of Israel—stop the bloodshed, stop the war, stop the suffering, end the occupation of Palestine,” Golob said in one of the few boldish statements from European leaders.
Europe grapples with change
Another recurring (but less explicit) theme in European leaders’ speeches was the region’s declining global and economic influence. Some speakers tried to present themselves as forward-thinking, citing initiatives aimed at benefiting the Global South and building a more equal world. Charles Michel spoke of “healthy technological competition” and a “commonly agreed framework for fair play and global dialogue”—a competition and a dialogue which would exclude China unless it stops supporting Russia. The ultimate goal of this process would be achieving “global financial equity,” though how microcredit schemes eagerly pointed out by Michel fit into this grand vision remains unclear.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, meanwhile, focused on artificial intelligence and Africa, touting Italy’s support for agricultural projects on the continent and essentially boasting about her government’s crude anti-migrant stances. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised Britain would use its seat at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to deliver a “fairer deal” for developing countries. “We are returning the UK to responsible global leadership,” Starmer stated, no doubt leaving many wondering when the country was last involved in such a thing.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock touched upon Germany’s colonial legacy, mentioning plans to return stolen artifacts to Namibia, but failed to spell out when it would phase out its extraction of raw materials and cheap labor force from Eastern Europe and the Global South. Emmanuel Macron, the man who recently failed to respect election results in France and became complicit in the deployment of colonial security forces to Martinique, said that Europe and Africa have a shared destiny. “France has done a lot over recent years for this continent, specifically in the Sahel, where the French army fought against terrorism,” he stated. Having finally driven out French armed forces, some Sahel countries would probably disagree with Macron’s point of view.
Less prominent voices from the region could be heard calling out the double standards of core European countries toward those in Eastern Europe. North Macedonia’s President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova spoke about the EU’s duplicity in dealing with Balkan states.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić espoused more progressive positions compared to other European leaders, quoting everyone from Gandhi to Obama to Nelson Mandela. Yet, his own governance is not without criticism as he recently greenlit controversial lithium mining projects with multinational Rio Tinto.
“The absolute dominance of the Western capitalist way of manufacturing, its science and technology supremacy…brought the world—some would say, to the end of history and complete hegemony of Western ideas in all spheres of social life,” he said. “Such a dominance of non-existence of balance and political multilateralism destroyed also the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia,” Vučić stated.
Unfortunately, regional interventions from European leaders at the UNGA indicate that not much has changed on that front.
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