Europe
News and information from Europe πͺπΊ
(Current banner: La Mancha, Spain. Feel free to post submissions for banner images.)
Rules (2024-08-30)
- This is an English-language community. Comments should be in English. Posts can link to non-English news sources when providing a full-text translation in the post description. Automated translations are fine, as long as they don't overly distort the content.
- No links to misinformation or commercial advertising. When you post outdated/historic articles, add the year of publication to the post title. Infographics must include a source and a year of creation; if possible, also provide a link to the source.
- Be kind to each other, and argue in good faith. Don't post direct insults nor disrespectful and condescending comments. Don't troll nor incite hatred. Don't look for novel argumentation strategies at Wikipedia's List of fallacies.
- No bigotry, sexism, racism, antisemitism, islamophobia, dehumanization of minorities, or glorification of National Socialism. We follow German law; don't question the statehood of Israel.
- Be the signal, not the noise: Strive to post insightful comments. Add "/s" when you're being sarcastic (and don't use it to break rule no. 3).
- If you link to paywalled information, please provide also a link to a freely available archived version. Alternatively, try to find a different source.
- Light-hearted content, memes, and posts about your European everyday belong in other communities.
- Don't evade bans. If we notice ban evasion, that will result in a permanent ban for all the accounts we can associate with you.
- No posts linking to speculative reporting about ongoing events with unclear backgrounds. Please wait at least 12 hours. (E.g., do not post breathless reporting on an ongoing terror attack.)
- Always provide context with posts: Don't post uncontextualized images or videos, and don't start discussions without giving some context first.
(This list may get expanded as necessary.)
Posts that link to the following sources will be removed
- on any topic: Al Mayadeen, brusselssignal:eu, citjourno:com, europesays:com, Breitbart, Daily Caller, Fox, GB News, geo-trends:eu, news-pravda:com, OAN, RT, sociable:co, any AI slop sites (when in doubt please look for a credible imprint/about page), change:org (for privacy reasons), archive:is,ph,today (their JS DDoS websites)
- on Middle-East topics: Al Jazeera
- on Hungary: Euronews
Unless they're the only sources, please also avoid The Sun, Daily Mail, any "thinktank" type organization, and non-Lemmy social media (incl. Substack). Don't link to Twitter directly, instead use xcancel.com. For Reddit, use old:reddit:com
(Lists may get expanded as necessary.)
Ban lengths, etc.
We will use some leeway to decide whether to remove a comment.
If need be, there are also bans: 3 days for lighter offenses, 7 or 14 days for bigger offenses, and permanent bans for people who don't show any willingness to participate productively. If we think the ban reason is obvious, we may not specifically write to you.
If you want to protest a removal or ban, feel free to write privately to the primary mod account @EuroMod@feddit.org
view the rest of the comments
False equivalence. EU is not controlled by a single president, for such actions there would have to be a near unanimous agreement among the other member states.
So the comparison would be if for instance 45 states agreed to take away privileges from one state in USA, instead of just 1 president, that may not even have won by a majority vote.
There's a difference between a decision made in a democracy that respect minorities (EU), and a decision made by a president that is granted excessive powers in a dysfunctional democracy.
That's how the US started. Still, legally, the president cannot change laws. It was normalized under Obama to get around this with executive orders.
It's a development. If we step on that slippery slope, we should know in advance that we stop before it is too late. And above all, we should not assume that it can't happen in the EU.
Obama made the least number of executive orders of any president for more than a century. So I seriously doubt he normalized them in any regard.
Also a slippery slope argument is a logical fallacy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slippery_slope
The EU was created as an economic union with the intention to create a political union. It's a slippery slope by design.
Interesting. I only remember democrats arguing that Obama had to use the orders because republicans were blocking congress.
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/01/23/obama-executive-orders/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Cleveland
I fell for that propaganda. The executive orders were a talking point, I looked it up. Thanks for all the links.
However, that only changes the extend to which democrats have been digging their own grave. The EU still doesn't convince me that we are not on the same trajectory towards a totalitarian government as the US. The dishonesty about surveillance alone lets me believe that the EU shouldn't get too much power to economically force countries.
It's OK to be vigilant, but it shouldn't stop us from doing something that is necessary. And as I see it, it is necessary to put Hungary and Slovakia on pause.
Because they are actively working against clear EU interests, and they are working against democracy. And that is decidedly against the ideals of EU, they are also working against human rights which is also contrary to the regulation of EU.
If this was the USA, the Hungarian and Slovakian governments could probably be charged with treason!
That member countries work withing EU regulation which include human rights is a requirement! Not an option!
This is way way more than just political disagreement, Slovakia and Hungary are working openly for the enemy.
None of us want EU to become a totalitarian shithole, but failing to observe and uphold the rules, is EXACTLY what caused it for USA.
So as I see it, you are viewing this whole scenario upside down. Failing to act against totalitarianism rising in EU like in Hungary, is what will increase the risk of EU becoming more totalitarian. We need to act against it, and your slippery slope argument, that upholding Hungary to what they agreed to when becoming members, has no basis in the political facts.
However warning against totalitarianism is a VERY valid warning. You just seem to confuse how to stop it, with making it worse.