The loss of political values in Europe informs its on-going descent into an ugly authoritarian regime.
Sadly, Europe’s Eclipse of Intelligence is expressing itself in the areas of economy, energy, taxation, immigration, and more. However, upon reflection there seems to be an underlying problem of values in Europe that is contributing to the general decline. Democracy, freedom, individual rights, and the very notion of rule of law, are all being undermined and even trampled upon today in Europe by the powers-that-be. A big reason for this is arguably a loss of political values in Europe.
Rule of Law Needs Recognition
It is important here to state something that is rarely considered: the application of rule of law needs the recognition, by the political class in particular, that the rule of law is essential for the stability and success of a modern society. Signed or ratified documents are not enough. No legal system and no constitution can be upheld for long, no separation of power between the three government branches can be long respected, unless these principles are esteemed by society’s ruling minority, but also by its ruled majority. In other words, they must form the basis for society’s political values in order not to be massively violated.
This has been the case to a large extent for Europe’s most successful nations. This is precisely why liberalism flourished and Western Europe was so successful from the 18th century. Though these principles have never been perfectly upheld, obviously, and have often been nibbled at the edges, they were still the core of the political values in most of Europe. But when these values lose importance in society, as is happening now, principles that were taken for granted, including blind justice and the rule of law, will suffer. This for many is inconceivable since these principles constitute the bedrock of modern European civilization. Yet, this has been the fate of Europe for quite a few years already, though this process is now accelerating.
From Yugoslavia, Libya, and Covid, to Ukraine and Gaza
The moral compass of European governments and the EU were already seriously compromised with their handling of the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s, their participation in Dubya Bush’s “War on Terror”, and their instigation of the Libyan regime change in 2011, which has had such serious consequences for European societies, even disrupting the social fabric in many communities. These events were already strong warning signs to all European populations of a far too complacent European and EU leadership with respect to the principles of rule of law and the UN Charter. Then the hubris and legal neglect continued with political and health scandals surrounding the Covid-19 “pandemic”. The restrictions on freedom that were rammed though in most of Europe would have been inconceivable in a time when political values were still firmly upheld.
The utter disregard for international law became obvious with the refusal of the European lackeys of Washington to insist on Ukraine’s implementation of the Minsk II Accords that had been voted through, 15 votes in favor to 0 against, in the UN Security Council (including from Europe : UK, France, Spain and Lithuania). Then the mistake of the century was to illegally try to “crumble the Russian economy” and “turn the ruble to rubble” (sic), and possibly even steal the frozen Russian assets.
But now, when the truth – regarding the reality of the Covid virus, about the true effectiveness mask mandates, about the consequences of mandatory confinements, about Ukrainian corruption, about the Ukrainian war losses, about the economic impacts to the European economies - is already well known to those citizens who care to inform themselves; now there are no more excuses for these political leaders. But instead of correcting their malicious and erroneous ways, they are now behaving like obstinate children, doubling down on immorality, however severe will be the later punishment. They cannot admit that they have been, not only strategically, but also morally wrong since the beginning, by disregarding international law and thus their own constitutions.
Further, the rights and the lives of Palestinians have been simply dismissed by the European political class, in particular by the “Big 3” European states. Israel has been “allowed” to continue its genocide in Gaza with only belated or tepid condemnations from the main European capitals; Berlin, Paris, London. The Palestinians are being literally starved to death in Gaza and their properties attacked with impunity in the West Bank, but mostly silence is coming from the ruling elite of countries that even just recently recognized the State of Palestine, like France and Great Britain. The hypocrisy and double-standard are simply breathtaking.
Political Corruption OK, Free Speech NOK
The disregard for political values can be seen not only in the lack of democratic legitimacy and accountability that is considered almost normal today in Europe, but also by the EU level corruption that is not perceived as particularly serious. Unelected EU bureaucrats have been for years engaging in corruption and misappropriation of European taxpayer money. As politico wrote: “From fraud to nepotism to revolving doors between the public sector and industry, the stench of impunity is pervasive.”
European political leadership is also inherently condoning and covering up massive Ukrainian corruption to the tune of billions of euros, by not speaking up and taking immediate action. What is worse is that it concerns the embezzlement of their own citizens funds! It hardly gets more shocking than this, and it is very unfortunate that there is not more outrage and rejection of the EU for this behavior by the peoples of Europe. Not only is this a complete disregard for the rule of law and due process going on in plain sight in front of gullible and uninformed European publics, but what is perhaps just as bad is that it has also become taboo, verboten, to discuss these decisions or to criticize this behavior in any way in Europe.
The on-going attempts at crack-down on free speech in Europe is a reality that too many Europeans are still not able to wrap their heads around. The EU has actually now gone as far as to sanction individuals, including EU citizens, who simply disagree publicly with the official EU narrative regarding the Ukraine conflict.
The European Council, aptly nicknamed the “law-maker-in-chief”, has indeed taken the law into its own hands, by sanctioning individuals - without accusation, trial or conviction - whose ideas they do not like (!). The European Council itself states the following in true Orwellian fashion:
Further, the laws that have been passed, like the Digital Services Act and DAC08 from 1st of Jan 2026, now give the EU leadership an unprecedented toolkit to attack both privacy and speech that is considered politically unacceptable. Pope Leon XIV also expressed the importance of what is happening:
“It is painful to see how, especially in the West, the space for genuine freedom of expression is rapidly shrinking at the same. At the same time, a new Orwellian style language is developing, which in an attempt to be increasingly inclusive, ends up some excluding those who do not conform to the ideologies that are fueling it.”
The alarm bells should clearly be ringing now for all Europeans who understand that the justice and the rule of law are the cornerstones of modern civilization. All this is an indication that there is a deeper rot in Europe, underlying all this scandalous behavior by both elected and unelected officials: a loss of political values. There is a disregard for political and legal values that formerly acted as a break on at least the most egregious illegality by the ruling minority.
Back to “European” Political Values?
European society needs again to start valuing the rule of law and individual rights. But in particular, Europe´s ruling minority must again cherish and protect these values to some extent at least. This is probably impossible without a new ruling minority. Though these values were never applied fully by European states, they contributed to making Europe an example to follow. Of course, this is actually a low bar, because it is just an appeal to follow the principles expressed by John Locke; that the Law must be universally applied and not arbitrary, and that individual property should be minimally respected by a state that still, in this view, can legitimately tax and coerce individuals in many other ways. It is a far cry from the conditions that must reign in a free society.
Nevertheless, such political values have been at the heart of modern political life in Europe for generations, and mostly accepted across the political spectrum. Such values, if taken seriously, are incompatible not only with the recent scandalous decisions of European politicians mentioned above. Unless there is a dramatic change of direction, the current destructive trend will continue in Europe, further eroding freedoms and rights of Europeans, with the probable top down introduction of the digital euro, the issuance of mutualized Eurobonds and the further centralization of power in Bruxelles.
From a foreign policy point of view, the solutions are fairly obvious if only the political courage existed to fully support the interests of the Europeans. The solutions clearly include the following:
Will the ruling minority of Europe change course and take such measures? Most probably not, because taking such measures cannot be done before first reverting to the political values of the past. At the moment, the European political class is hurtling towards disaster, not so much for itself unfortunately, but for the peoples of Europe along with their assets and their dreams. This dire situation can only change when and if Europe decides to return to the political values that made her great, not just in word but in deed.
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