‘Centrists’ Demand EU Cut Off Funding for Countries Against ‘Cultural Marxism’

Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos attends a meeting of the National Liberal Party (PNL
DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP via Getty Images
Virginia Hale

European liberals have demanded that Brussels “stop funding” countries in the EU which stand up to globalism.

The Renew Europe Group, the successor to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) in the EU Parliament, blasted “ignorant” and “arrogant” populist governments in eastern and central European nations, who “do not wish to be bothered by [Brussels’] ‘cultural Marxism'”.

Head of the open borders-backing, so-called ‘centrist’ parliamentary grouping, Dacian Cioloș launched an attack on European right-wingers following a conference at which heads of state promised to defend the continent against mass immigration and other challenges.

Leaders such as Hungary’s Viktor Orbán rule their countries through “a power fuelled by nationalism, an attitude of defiance towards Europe and most disturbingly – fear”, according to an editorial by Cioloș published in Euractiv on Monday.

In it, he argues that Brussels must cut off the cash supply to countries ruled by leaders hostile to globalism, claiming that current funding rules mean “that in practice Europe is also funding their anti-EU propaganda, lies and hate”.

“They are net beneficiaries of EU funds, yet they dare call Europe ‘Marxist’, knowing very well the negative connotations this term has in their part of Europe. The language they use is not accidental; it is calculated to stir mistrust and fear,” said Cioloș, whose parliamentary grouping includes parties such as Emmanuel Macron’s La République En Marche (LREM/Republic on the Move).

Bemoaning “nationalism in a post-truth and populist era”, the Romanian asserted that Orbán, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić’s professed hostility to “a so-called ‘cultural Marxism'” fails to reflect the views of their nations’ citizens, who he claimed are “more open-minded”.

“Orbán in particular, though sadly he is not alone, is cut off from reality; his sole aim is to stay in power. This model seems to be working and is catching on. We cannot allow EU funds to line the pockets of anti-democratic, anti-EU autocrats,” the former prime minister of Romania said.

He argued: “This is not a debate between Eastern and Western values, but between European and anti-European values. This is why the forthcoming European Summit has to put an end to any possibility of funding illiberalism.

“In addition to a well-financed and functioning European Public Prosecutor – which is thankfully now on the table – we need a new mechanism that makes EU funds conditional on the rule of law.”

“Europe’s future cannot be sacrificed at the altar of Viktor Orban’s illiberalism,” Cioloș said, concluding his article by comparing the rule of conservative leaders in Europe’s centre and east to the continent’s “dark, painful past”.

“We cannot turn our backs to history and allow this to be repeated. Renew Europe will be relentless in fighting to prevent this, but we should not be fighting alone,” he writes.

In an online conference last Wednesday, entitled Europe Uncensored: European Leaders on the Future of Europe, the leaders of Hungary, Slovenia, and Serbia warned of regional tensions and of the dangers of aggressive left-wing ideology.

According to Euractiv, Janša — a major opponent of Communism during the 1980s — pointed to “cultural marxism” as one of the biggest dangers facing the 27-member bloc.

“To create a new world, you need to dismantle the nation, family, private property, private schools and religion, and this is going on now. This is cultural marxism, and this massive offensive is going on through mass media, universities, cultural industry, multinational institutions… and political parties,” he told the event, whose speakers Orbán referred to as a “special club of freedom fighters”.

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