Candidate for the post of President of the European Commission, former Prime Minister of Luxembourg Jean-Claude Juncker accused his British colleague of blackmail. In fact, David Cameron seems to want nothing more than to preserve the European Union.

Jean-Claude Juncker is trying to become the head of the European Union by hook or by crook
Photo: Geert Vanden Wijngaert, AP

The column is led by Nikolay Zubov

Jean-Claude Juncker, the former Prime Minister of Luxembourg and the leading candidate for the post of President of the European Commission, accused David Cameron of blackmail. “Europe must not allow itself to be blackmailed,” Juncker told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, commenting on reports that British Prime Minister David Cameron had indicated that his country could leave the EU if Juncker is elected president. Many experts say, however, that if anyone should be accused of blackmail, it is Juncker himself. Juncker is one of the oldest and most influential politicians in Europe. He was once called Mr. Euro for his contribution to the creation of a single European currency. Being the head of the European Union is his long-time dream. Nevertheless, Juncker's political career practically ended in his country, where he became involved in a high-profile espionage scandal. The current election of the President of the European Commission is the last chance for him to remain not only in Europe, but also in politics. Therefore, he seems to be using all his resources (which, despite his problems, he has enough) to force European leaders to support his candidacy. Two weeks ago, Juncker won an important victory, literally forcing Europe's top politician, Angela Merkel, to publicly support him. This was preceded by a perhaps unprecedented campaign in favor of Juncker on the part of the German press, frightened by the success of the far-right in the elections to the European Parliament, and the leaders of the SPD, to whom he seems to be the lesser of two evils. “Any other decision would be a betrayal,” said party secretary general Yasmine Fahimi.

Nevertheless, Juncker is completely unacceptable to David Cameron, who considers the Luxembourg ex-prime minister too pro-European, too rigid and too happy with the current state of affairs in the EU to expect any meaningful reforms of the union from him. “A man from the 1980s cannot lead the European Union in the 21st century,” Cameron noted. Cameron is actively supported by Hungary and Sweden, and France and Italy are ready to agree with him. Francois Hollande wants to see his Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici as Chairman of the European Commission, while Italy does not insist on any specific candidate, saying only that “Juncker is one of the candidates, but not the only candidate.”

In speaking out against Juncker, David Cameron is not, however, engaging in blackmail. Rather, he is saving the European Union. Given the growing popularity of Eurosceptics in Britain, the presence of the federalist Juncker at the head of the EU is likely to force voters in the upcoming referendum on Britain's stay in the EU (to be held no later than 2017) to oppose the country's membership in the union. If Greece’s exit from the union at the height of the economic crisis was considered a disaster for a united Europe and its membership was actually bought for €110 billion, then an even greater disaster for Europe would be the loss of Britain, the only country that emerged from the crisis relatively quickly and whose capital, London, remains the financial capital of not only Europe, but also the world. Of course, for Britain itself the consequences of leaving the EU will be catastrophic, but for the EU they will be completely fatal.

Battle of the blackmailers