Bucharest, 24 July 2015, CerculMilitarNaţional
,,Extremism, anti-Semitism, nationalism – contemporary threats of Europe"
– Round table organized by New Strategy Center and InstitutulNaționalpentruStudiereaHolocaustului din România ,,Elie Wiesel” –
Regarded through its historical evolution, Europe has recorded its most peaceful period during the last 70 years. Even if the war – at least the conventional one – did not represent a reality anymore, a series of old issues that characterized the previous centuries threatens again the European security. New Strategy Center will dedicate the second event of its planned activity to address the dangers that extremism, anti-Semitism and nationalism pose to contemporary Europe, investigating the directions of manifestation for the mentioned dangers as well as their particularities for our country.
The European security was considered ensured in 2000, but this comfortable principle is threatened in different areas of the continent. As they bring along a degree of populism, the extremism, the anti-Semitism and the nationalism hit their height during the Second World War. At that time, thepeople in Europe failedtoacknowledgethe destructive dimension of ignoringthoseproblems, evenif, as Edmund Burkedsaid: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
Despite the fact that lending Greece succeeded, the internal problems of the European Union in terms of extremism, anti-Semitism and nationalism still store a dangerous character. Germany and Greece had been thrown at the opposite ends of the political discourse, numerous emotional and historical motivations being invoked to support the argument. The North-South fragmentation determined nationalism growth and the implementation of measures meant to guard the national interest before the European one. Lately, the anti-European parties brought in new arguments to support their reason while numerous extreme right-wing voices charge the European policy for migrants or social security benefits. To maintain the electorate’s interest high, some European leaders update nationalism by resetting the minorities’ rights issue. Numerous threats are visible at European Union borders as well. Crimea’s annexation, border changes made by the Russian Federation and feeding the conflict in Eastern Ukraine represent major provocations for the continental security, hard to imagine some time ago. Russia’s interference into Ukrainian political affairs affected the continental cooperation mechanism while invoking the Russian minority rights poses security threats to the Baltic states.