Europe pays the part of the division. And the conflict in Ukraine highlights “the disunity between countries” as he defined it Romano Prodion a planet where in each containing “authoritarianisms prevailfrom the Philippines to Russia and Turkey, passing through Brazil ”.
An hour and a half of lessons entitled “The strength of Europe”, in the lecture hall of the Application School of Turin Arsenal Palace. An appointment organized by Burzio Foundation. “The situation in Ukraine teaches us that theEurope of separate countries counts for nothingthat we either make a common foreign and defense policy or they don’t even consider us. This is what he is teaching us ”.
More than an hour of analysis on the current situation, starting however from the professor’s experience as president of the European Commission, when the Union passed from 15 to 25 member states. “Opening to the East that I was reproached, opening that I did not in a hurry, but with the utmost determination and rigor. Because the train of history only passes once. Think now what would have happened if Poland were in the same situation as Ukraine”.
Prodi is greeted by the general Mauro D’Ubaldi, commander of the Army Application Schooland responds to requests from Alberto Sinigaglia, president of the Burzio Foundation. It highlights elements of weakness and strength of the Old Continent. “It is the first time in many years that we have united on a major foreign policy problem – says Prodi – in all cases, think of the war in Iraq and Libya, we have had a divided Europe, now we must absolutely make a common foreign policy “.
The war in Ukraine, however, is a conflict “local, but it has become global, and it can only be resolved by an agreement between the United States and China. Although Europe has a unitary position, it is unable to influence the decision-making aspect ”. For the professor it was a “great mistake of the West to let China and Russia converge. Kissinger theorized the need to avoid this decision. When we argued with Putinthe president of Russia told me “I will never sell a cubic meter of gas to China“. What happened?”.
At this point, adds Prodi, the conflict can only be resolved with an agreement between the United States and China: “If the two great world powers do not intervene – he said – there is nothing to be done. If China does not tell Russia ‘stay good’ to use popular language, peace is unlikely to come. I believe that both great powers must be involved. Then they can also delegate someone else or another country, for example Israel, but behind the delegate there must be the two great powers“.
Prodi sees a solution to get the EU out of the impasse, as long as we want to go down the road. In the 1950s, an attempt was made to build a common European policy and army, but France opposed it, as well as in the launch of the European Constitution. We take a different path, that of economic and monetary union, on the other hand “modern states rely on the army and money“, points out.
After Covid, which convinced them to launch the Next Generation program and Brexit, the situation has changed: “Seeking unanimity is not possible. You can never reach. We should do as we did with the Euro. Who is there, is there. I see that today four countries can start making a difference with a common foreign policy. The others will come. Just start from Germany, France, Italy and Spain. It is good that Germany has rearmed itself, but I would better see a common initiative, political and military, with Germany, France, Spain and Italy the others follow. It would be a strong core. We could immediately take a leap forward. Other countries will unite and a common foreign policy would be created. If any country wants to stay out, it will stay out as with the euro “.
To follow, theEuropean army, because foreign policy “needs the secular arm: if we add up the defense costs of all the countries, if instead of doing it separately, we put them together, we would have a much more efficient defense with the same expense. Expense that would be two and a half or three times more than that of Russia”.
Prodi, who remembers with emotion when his father took lessons in 1914 at the Turin Arsenal to become a second lieutenant, also replies to those who “so far have reproached us saying that the European Union is only an economic thing, it is theEurope of bankers – he concluded – now if we make the Europe of foreign policy, it is theEurope of peoples. But we have to leave ”.