The greatest error of them all.
By Romegas
Prof. Simon Mercieca put up an interesting blog post entitled: In Malta, the Pro-EU supporters call misspent money corruption. In Europe, it is called error. This blog post reproduced an article from the Telegraph entitled “EU misspent billions, damning report finds”.
That the EU misspends untold billions is no surprise, it is indeed a matter of course. Not only are hundreds of billions from EU budgets spent on fraudulent ‘projects’ but fraud is an intrinsic aspect of the ‘European project’ – this is the way that the EU buys the loyalty of the elite in the member states. Indeed so perverted has been the expenditure of EU funds throughout its existence that there was an entire twenty year period where it own auditors refused to sign off its accounts!!
Added to the countless billions channelled into fraudulent projects there have been other untold billions diverted as subsidies to feed lobbyists or into warped projects of the EU’s own initiative such as those related to combat ‘climate change’.
But back to the Telegraph’s article. Nestled in it without further explanation it tells us dryly that:
The report said the EU had liabilities of €577 billion, assets of €455 billion, and debts and exposure of €344 billion, which is likely to increase as more loans and aid are sent to Ukraine.
Well, the Telegraph, a deeply Russophobic cheerleader for the war in Ukraine, was always unlikely to delve deeper. To learn more we have to turn to the likes of Le Figaro to learn more:
Translating loosely from the original French, we are told that:
“Noting that the EU’s debt has increased considerably in 2022 to reach 344.3 billion euros (compared to 236.7 billion euros in 2021), the auditors wondered how the twenty-Seven member states will be able to integrate all the promises made to Ukraine in a budget already under pressure, a budget which is already suffering from rising interest rates for the various loan schemes launched by the EU, such as the European recovery plan”
And
“The Court of Auditors thus notes that the exposure of the EU budget to Ukraine has more than doubled in 2022, going from 7 to 16 billion euros, with loans granted or announced, guaranteed on the European budget, but which the EU does not know if they will be reimbursed.”
Of course they will not be reimbursed. If Ukraine survives its conflict with Russia, it won’t be in a position to pay anything – it is de facto bankrupt – and is only kept alive by the input of foreign funds. And if it was ever absorbed into the EU as some would wish, it would bankrupt the EU. The entire EU budget would have to go to propping up Ukraine, and all current beneficiaries of EU funds would have to become contributors. This will never happen – we have already seen the likes of Poland, Hungary and other countries banning the import of Ukrainian agricultural produce because it undercuts their own farmers. The promise that Ukraine would ever be allowed into the EU is just another cynical ploy so that Ukrainians continue their destiny with death under the illusion that one day they will become EU members.
The report continues to inform us that:
“Brussels has in fact requested an extension of 66 billion euros from member states and new support of 50 billion for Kiev over four years, including 17 billion in the form of grants and 33 billion in loans, under the name of “facility for ‘Ukraine”. It will take the form of loans, grants and new budget guarantees.
The Court, without ever calling into question the necessity of support for Ukraine, again pointed out the vagueness of the conditions requested in return from the Ukrainian government and the lack of transparency on this aid. To date, the Union and its Member States have provided 70 billion in support to Ukraine which integrates both aid at European and national level and combines military aid.
Other data, including military aid sent by national governments, suggests support of 139 billion euros.
Remember, always remember – that you were never sought after to provide consent for all these loans much as you are never asked for consent on any other EU matters. In fact, in most polls across the EU, the majority of citizens are against further aid but the EU could not care less about the citizens’ priorities. It never did. This is the democracy that the EU boasts about.
Yes, ‘errors’ in the EU are routine – but the gamble on Ukraine will prove to be the greatest error of all. It is the error that threatens the EU with its own demise.
EU citizens might likewise be pleasantly surprised that many weapons bought with their hard-earned taxes and supplied to Ukraine somehow found their way to Hamas. I guess that is simply another ‘error’.