“The EU occasionally still suffers from the old European disease, which is the tendency to make compromises with evil, to close one’s eyes to dictatorship, to practice a politics of appeasement or even accommodation, vis-à-vis totalitarian systems…” Václav Havel

https://twitter.com/spignal/status/1666543762170847233

Regarding NATO enlargement, which Havel strongly advocated, the West was reluctant: “there were many reasons why progress was so sluggish, but the most significant holdup was a certain conservatism or caution on the part of Western members. They were afraid of expansion.”

'While both Schmitt and Kelsen made significant contributions to legal theory, many scholars today argue that Schmitt was more accurate in his assessment of the relationship between law and politics.' #ChatGPT states in response to my prompt to argue that Schmitt was right 'In practice, legal decisions are often influenced by political considerations, and the law is frequently used as a tool to advance political goals. Schmitt's theory recognizes this reality and provides a more nuanced understanding of the role of law in society.' ChatGPT

European Disunion👇(as I discuss in Chapters 2 & 3, dealing with Germany and France respectively) academic.oup.com/book/45336

https://twitter.com/noahbarkin/status/1647466866401525760

“The thorniest issues will concern the EU’s enlargement to Ukraine, Moldova and the western Balkans, and the budgetary and governance implications that will follow,” writes @Mij_Europe

‘the war complicates the EU’s relationship with Poland, which has long advocated a tougher stance against Russia and is playing a vital role in supporting Ukraine’s military efforts as well as Ukrainian refugees’ @scicluna_nb and I argue in the forthcoming issue of @IAJournal_CH

https://twitter.com/IAJournal_CH/status/1620044225768460289

‘The war has thus opened up a space for a kind of detente between the EC & Poland, just as many commentators argue that Putin’s flagrant disregard for the international rule of law underscores the importance of the EU taking a strong stance on the internal defence of its values.’

“Whether Germany has conferred competences on the EU in a legally effective manner is governed by German constitutional law and can thus only be determined by the Federal Constitutional Court, not by the Court of Justice of the European Union.” Clear & incisive by Dieter Grimm.

https://twitter.com/jtasioulas/status/1301077800758247424

“For the Federal Constitutional Court, it is key that the European Union is a union of sovereign states, which make up its foundation, and that it must respect their identities, which are reflected primarily in their national constitutions,” writes Dieter Grimm.