At midnight on Jan. 1, 2021, European laws ceased to apply to the UK.
Brexit had reached its final stage. Meanwhile, Covid 19 continued to dominate the news as it had in 2020, only with new names appearing like Delta and Omicron.
There were two other major themes in the headlines of the European press – the migration crisis and climate change.
Migration and Climate Change Challenges
Of all the issues facing Europe in 2021 the migration question took center stage.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I am appealing to you because our common home is being threatened. A hybrid war is being waged on the border between Poland and Belarus. With the support of Vladimir Putin, Alexander Lukashenko has declared war on the entire European Union,” Mateusz Morawiecki, Poland’s prime minister, declared dramatically.
‘Hybrid war’ was only one of the terms used as the crisis unfolded on Europe’s exterior frontiers with Belarus.
Poland and its Baltic neighbors, Latvia and Lithuania accused the iron man of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, of bringing migrants from the Middle East and sending them from the capital Minsk straight to the borders with the European Union. Brussels viewed it as a punishment for sanctions imposed against Lukashenko for his brutal repression of anti-government demonstrations.
In response, Eastern EU member countries erected fences and demanded that the EU provide funds for the construction of anti-migrant barriers, but the President of the European Commission refused.
On the other side of Europe, the UK – a one-time partner of Brussels, turned nasty neighbor – was stuck in a quarrel with France concerning migrants crossing the English Channel. The crisis saw hundreds of asylum seekers daily attempting the dangerous journey in tiny boats.
French president Emmanuel Macron pleaded with the British, but the European Union was unable to develop a migration policy. Within the EU there was no agreement on the Commission’s latest proposal aimed at reducing illegal access routes.
Migration remains a hugely divisive question in Europe.
Natural Disasters and Climate Change
2021 saw defenders of the planet declaring their slogans more vehemently than ever.
Europe also sounded the alarm as the disastrous effects of climate change made themselves felt on its own doorstep.
A few weeks after fatal floods in Belgium and Germany, the IPCC (The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) published a report warning that, as a result of climate change, many regions can expect more frequent and increasingly intense instances of extreme weather.
In other areas of Europe fire was the main destructive force. In Greece, for example, Evia island was devastated by flames.
Climate change is amplifying natural phenomena in the most dramatic way.
The summer saw unprecedented heatwaves. The city of Syracuse in Sicily saw temperatures of 48,8 degrees Celsius – a new record for Europe.
It was in a mood of climate anxiety that the world gathered in Glasgow for COP26, an event presented as the “last chance” summit for the limitation of greenhouse gases and the limiting of global warming to 1,5 degrees above preindustrial levels.
But many criticized the summit, denouncing numerous compromises as well as ambitions weakened by the fossil fuel lobby. The summit closed with tepid results in the face of global warming – the most severe challenge of our time.
In 2022 the European Union will go on contending with Covid 19 while managing the uncertainties of economic recovery.
Immigration will remain a challenge for all member states and the hybrid war aimed at Europe’s destruction will continue, as will climatic catastrophes.
Responding to the threat from Russia
The risk of a high-intensity conflict returned to Europe in the spring with Russian troops being massed on the Ukrainian border. Towards the end of the year, this threat grew even greater. The EU, the U.S. and NATO ended the year on high alert and responding in concert.
Putin's strategy is very clear – to destroy Ukraine and the EU.
But the migrant crisis organized by Lukashenko and Putin on the EU’s borders with Belarus only intensified solidarity among the EU’s members, as did the blackmail applied in the case of Ukraine.
The goal of French President Emmanuel Macron to build a European defense during the French presidency of the EU in 2022 is one of the consequences of the Russian threat to peace in Europe.
Challenging times lie ahead for the EU. And it is against this complex background that the predicament of Ukraine will be responded to.
Oliver Vedrine is a member of the Steering Committee of the Association Jean Monnet and chief editor of Russian Monitor https://rusmonitor.com/
