European Union is a prison of nations, where Ukraine wants to be jailed

25.12.2013 15:01

The European Union has long been segregated. The United States needs the EU as a sales market. It is also important for
the US to stop any success of the Eurasian Union, and Ukraine plays a certain role in Washington's plans at this point, the
head of the Economic Research Institute of Globalization and Social Movements, Vasily Koltashov told Pravda.Ru.
"Ukraine, in the face of its government, has settled down all confusing details after Brussels refused to finance Ukraine's
program of switching to European standards," said Koltashov. What remains unclear is on which grounds Brussels
promised Ukraine the transcendental economic growth of six percent of GDP, taking into consideration the fact that the
EU can not even come close to this level of growth. The United States supports this game of Brussels, the expert believes,
as the USA has big plans for both Ukrainian and the entire European economy.
Koltashov believes that it was a big mistake of President Viktor Yanukovych to play up to the dream of many Ukrainians
to live better lives in the European Union. Many in Ukraine dream that as soon as they are associated with the EU, all
their problems that could not be solved for decades would be solved in an instant. As a matter of fact, nobody wants and
will not work to improve the lives of the Ukrainians; the goals are completely different.
On the basis of the report entitled "Ukraine, the EU and the Transatlantic Partnership" prepared jointly with American
experts at the Institute of Globalization and Social Movements, one may come to conclusion that "the United States wants
to build a large free trade zone that the Americans will govern. The zone, in addition to the USA, will include Canada,
Mexico, Europe and all countries associated with the European Union," said Koltashov. Ukraine in this integration will
provide cheap labor force and further Americanization of Europe.
The Americanization of Europe implies the destruction of social state and lower wages. The European Union is a
bureaucratic organization, the expert explained, that solves problems of international capital. Reducing social costs and
lowering wages is a way for Brussels to handle the crisis.
"The European Union is turning into a prison of nations, it is segregated, it divides and conquers. It does not give equality,
it does not build single space either. The weak EU and its associate members allow Washington to sell American products
in Europe. This is an opposite of the Marshall Plan. Another goal of the U.S. is to stop the development of the Customs
Union, that is, an alternative integration," said Koltashov.
Germany needs Ukraine too, said the expert. It is no accident that the Ukrainian opposition enjoys the support from the
CDU, including direct financial assistance. According to Koltashov, the future of the EU is its decay.
"In the EU, there are two groups of critical relationships. The first group says that the EU should be reformed and made
less aggressive socially and more aggressive on migration issues, as nationalists suggest. They also advocate the return of

financial sovereignty to the countries, depriving Brussels of control over national financial and economic systems. Today,
it is mainly German and French banks that control that.
Another crucial option is to destroy the EU. In this group, there is "the right version - to return to one's national,
traditional world and go back to the level of life that created the dream that triggered protests in Ukraine."
Koltashov stressed out that dream of a better life within the scope of one single union appeared prior to the expansion of
the EU in the 1960s-1980s and had discredited itself completely by now.
"The left version, which includes communists and trade unions, said that the EU destroys workers' rights, the pension
system, social gains and healthcare to bring the system to the ideals, to take Europe in the era of wild capital of the XIX
century."
"Remember why the European Constitution was not supported. It was because many disliked the social state system in the
constitution," said Koltashov. The goal was to dismantle democratic institutions to implement unpopular reforms and
open the doors to American goods.
That is why many Europeans do not understand how Ukrainians are going to improve their standards of living by simply
joining the association with the EU and have duties without having rights. Many hope that the visa-free regime with the
EU will solve the problem, and the Americans asked Brussels about it. "But if it happens, although the EU does not have
an intention to do that, the Ukrainians will get worst seats, so to speak. Ukrainian migrant workers will have nothing and
nobody in a foreign country." Meanwhile, Koltashov added, salaries in the European Union have been going down. In
Germany, for example, the minimum level is 400 euros; there is a tax on the unemployed in Greece. "If you do not declare
your income in Greece, but manage to live somehow, it means that you have an illegal income - 3,000 euros by default, so
please, kindly pay the tax of 300 euros a year from that."
The expert dispelled the myth that it is the law-abiding and industrious Germans who feed the European Union.
"Governments owe banks. Government debt has grown after the crisis, because governments, being unable to print
money, had to borrow it to subsidize banks. This blew up the debt and overloaded budgets. Then they launch austerity
policies that cut social spending under the pretext of paying the public debt. These debt obligations are concentrated in
banks of the North. As a result, the South of Europe, where the standard of living dropped at a bigger extent, feeds the
North, paying interest to it. This is a symptom of aggravation of contradictions within the EU, where there are two
colonial zones - the newly adopted countries and old-timers. Spain, Portugal, Greece are second-class countries that
Germany takes tribute from," the head of the Economic Research Institute of Globalization and Social Movements, Vasily
Koltashov said.
Lyuba Lulko
Pravda.Ru