Historian Clark criticises Trump – Debate on neutrality in Austria necessary – German media theorist Bernhard Pörksen calls for separate school subject on ‘media literacy’
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At the 20th Pentecost Dialogue ‘Geist&Gegenwart’ (Spirit&Present) at Seggau Castle in southern Styria (Austria) on June 4th and 5th, the focus was ‘Europe’s challenge’ in terms of security and defence.
In his lecture, Australian historian Christopher Clark sharply criticised US President Donald Trump: ‘Trump has replaced diplomacy with deals. He uses illegal methods against his opponents, for example by setting the tax authorities on them, and he does not shy away from accepting gifts from companies and foreign leaders.’ Trump’s family has already received more than two billion US dollars in donations since he took office.
For the security of the EU, the ‘synergy between Trump and (Kremlin leader Vladimir) Putin poses a great danger. The West has been sending mixed signals to Moscow for far too long, for example in 2014 after Russia’s annexation of Crimea. ‘This was tantamount to encouraging Russia to wage war on Ukraine,‘ said Clark, who became famous for his book on the roots of the First World War (’The Sleepwalkers”).
German media theorist Bernhard Pörksen from the University of Tübingen noted a “refeudalisation of the public sphere” by US digital tech oligarchs. They were currently carrying out a ‘major attack on independent journalism.’ In social media, ‘fact-checking’ programmes had been introduced as a form of censorship. Fake news and hate speech had increased significantly since then, and content from reputable media outlets had been displaced. But just as humans need ‘clean water,’ society needs ‘clean information.’
To this end, Pörksen called for an ‘educational effort’ with a new school subject on media literacy. At the EU level, there must be ‘careful regulation against verbal violence and disinformation.’ The ‘Digital Services Act’ is fundamentally positive, but it is no longer sufficient as a weapon against increasing disinformation on social media.
Retired Austrian top diplomat Wolfgang Petritsch, president of the Marshall Plan Anniversary Foundation, called on EU politicians to make the EU ‘defensible’ on its own in the event of the dissolution of the current NATO. But despite all the necessary investments in armaments, ‘social Europe’ must not be forgotten, otherwise the EU will lose credibility among its citizens, according to the former secretary of Chancellor Bruno Kreisky.
As an Austrian, he is embarrassed that Putin’s state visit to Austria in 2014 did not cause ‘a scandal’. Now, a serious debate on future security policy should be held in Austria, whereby ‘the emotive terms neutrality and NATO membership’ must be excluded. Neutrality had already been ‘severely restricted’ with EU accession in 1995, said Petritsch, who spoke of ‘rogue pragmatism’ in this context.
In a keynote speech on Thursday, former Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel (ÖVP) who just turned 80, also blamed politicians and the media for the loss of trust in politics. Schüssel said that politicians taking their colleagues to court for statements made in investigative committees was damaging to politics, without directly naming former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP).
Austria’s neutrality has lost its significance. The country only became secure when it joined the EU in 1995, even if this meant sacrificing some of its sovereignty. ‘The EU is the only major power in the world that has grown from twelve to 27 member states,’ said Schüssel. However, the EU Commission has recently passed too many regulations instead of concentrating on completing the single market. Nevertheless, Europe remains ‘one of three global players.’
Now, the EU must ‘not rearm, but retrofit’ militarily, as it can no longer rely on the protection of the United States. ‘It makes no sense for the EU, with its 450 million inhabitants, to outsource its security to a country with 340 million inhabitants.’
The former Vice-President of the European Parliament, Othmar Karas, said that the EU Commission’s ongoing deficit procedure against Austria should not be seen as a hostile act. ‘We have long demanded that other EU countries comply with the budget rules that we also helped to decide on. As part of a monetary union, Austria must also adhere to these rules. ‘We have made ourselves vulnerable to blackmail,’ said Karas.
AEJ-Honorary President Otmar Lahodynsky warned that right-wing extremists are on the rise in Europe. In Romania, a majority of voters living in other EU-countries voted for an EU-opponent. Also in the presidential elections in Poland, expats voted for the nationalistic EU-critic Karol Nawrocki who will become Polands new President in August. EU-institutions have to do more to defend the basic values of the EU. Special attention shoukld be given to explaing the adbatages oft he EU to young people. In schools there should be a subject dedicated to information about the EU.
Otmar Lahodynsky
