Should Ukraine Be Accepted In The EU ?

They're actually debating this. (laughs) They're actually debating this in the European Parliament behind closed doors. They're actually thinking about it. This is why they print it. What we need to do is to become sovereign. Okay, sovereign from the master across the ocean. That's the biggest problem. All the rest will almost fix themselves just by doing this one thing, okay? My friends, it's so nice to see you. I must warn you though, this episode is not meant to be informative or educational. I've made this for you with one goal in mind and that was to entertain you, to put a smile on your face. Now, I'm gonna introduce you to today's episode with one simple question. How do you like your economy? Maybe your grocery prices, maybe your energy prices. How about your mortgage, your car insurance? You probably don't like them very much because they're very high, aren't they? So we have the solution now. The solution is Ukraine. Ukraine will solve all your problems, my friends, or at least that's what the European Prabda tells you. I mean, the European Prabda is bringing you today's article so that in and of itself, pretty much tells you everything you need to know. However, let's check them out. I promise you will not regret this one. Here we go. Why the EU losing competitiveness and how Ukraine can help? Interesting question, interesting proposition. The European Union is trying to find its place in an increasingly multipolar world. So the prospect of Ukraine's ascension is seen by some experts both as a challenge and as an opportunity. I'm curious, what is the opportunity? I can see the challenges, but what's the opportunity? A recent report by former European Central Bank president, Mario Draghi on the EU's competitiveness paints a rather bleak picture. Europe risks weakening its own strategic autonomy. Now that part is very, very true. Mario Draghi has published a report, I think it was a Monday, so that would be about three days ago on the 8th or the 9th of September, in which he's basically raised the alarm on the European economy. He said, if you don't do something now, Europe will no longer be able to compete in any way, shape or form with either the United States or with China. So it's a big deal, right? That's what these people are referring to. I just wanna provide you some context. According to the author, Draghi's report shows that Europe risks falling significantly behind in innovations and green technologies. I mean, sure, I mean, the green technologies, I am sure they're on your top priority list. I know they're online every single day. I'm thinking, ah, we need more innovations in the green sector, you know? I'm thinking of that every single time I buy food, I pay the bills, green is on my mind. That's my priority. Draghi calls for a significant increase in annual investments amounting to 750 to 800 billion euros to address the situation. He also emphasizes that around 40% of Europe's imports are sourced from a small number of suppliers and difficult to substitute. Quote, "Moreover, about half of these imports originate from countries with which it is not strategically aligned," notes Ivan Nagorniak citing the report. "By not strategically aligned, what they mean is from countries that the EU doesn't like." That's really the translation of that. So, what's the solution? Well, bring Ukraine in because everybody likes Ukraine, right? It's just like when you go to a party and everybody gravitates towards one person, the charisma just booms and you're just drawn like a magnet to that person. That's Ukraine. Everybody in Europe likes Ukraine, so I don't see why not. I'm in for it. Count me in, Scotty, count me in. There we go. "At the same time, Ukraine's ascension could strengthen the EU's strategic economy," the expert says. According to him, specific data on this are contained in a May study conducted by the think tank Easy Business with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation. Oh, I mean, with such pompous titles and names like Renaissance and think tank. I mean, of course these guys are legitimate, aren't they? I mean, if you're thinking otherwise, well rethink it because your opinion doesn't matter. Not when a think tank is involved and the Renaissance Foundation. I mean, you can't compete with those, Joe, you can't. Also, I wanna ask where they say that the Ukraine's ascension would strengthen Europe's strategic autonomy. What language is that? What does that even mean? You see, I like to think of myself as a person who kind of understands even these pompous words, but sometimes I must admit they absolutely baffle me. What does that strategic autonomy mean? I mean, I know what it means, but I don't understand how Ukraine can help with that. And these guys are surely not gonna tell you, they just put the title in there and hope that you buy it without asking any sort of questions. Strategic autonomy would imply that the EU is pretty much self-sufficient in all the critical sectors. At least that's how I understand it. How does Ukraine help with that? Ukraine is not exactly a beacon of democracy, as everybody says in Europe. Ukraine doesn't have a good economy. Most of the land that's good in Ukraine is now under Russian control, the natural resources, and bear with me, because we're gonna get to natural resources in a second. I don't really understand what Ukraine has to offer at this very point in time that would be beneficial for the European Union. I really don't get it. I'm sure there's a lot of farmland. I fully get that, but there's a lot of farmland in Europe that's currently not even being used. I mean, in my country in Romania, there's so much farmland, you wouldn't even know what to do with it. And nobody's working it because there's no subsidies from the government. There's no incentives for the farmers to actually grow those plants. In fact, there's every incentive not to. My friends, this is just smoke and mirrors, but let's push on a little bit further. Quote, "Firstly, Ukraine's natural resources and potential in farming can significantly strengthen the EU's strategic autonomy," writes Nagorniak. Well, as I've just said, there's plenty of farmland in Europe in all of these countries that can actually be used. However, for the last, I mean, I can't speak for every country because I'm not familiar with the individual situation of every country, but I can speak for Romania. So Romania, up until about 1995, was an industrial powerhouse. Well, an industrial powerhouse, mostly up until about the 1990. However, it continued to be a farming powerhouse up until about 1995, even maybe at a push early 2000s. And then everything just stopped. Why? Because the EU, because the regulations, or you can't have a chicken in your backyard because you need to register it. Or you can't have a big farm in your backyard because, well, now you're in the European Union. You have to declare everything. You have to pay this tax and that tax. By the time it's all said and done, you can barely do anything, anything. Speaking of which, just as a side note, I was listening to Neil Oliver. I'm sure most of you would be familiar with him. And he was talking about Scotland. And apparently the new law in Scotland prohibits you to even raise a single chicken in your backyard unless you register it and pay all sorts of stuff for it. This is what I mean. It's not the fact that we don't have enough land already in Europe. The problem is how do we use that land? But apparently Ukraine is the solution. The Ukrainian land, the most fertile soil. He also mentions Ukraine's technological sector, especially IT, which can bring new dynamics to the EU digital transformation. According to him, this would help narrow the innovation gap between Europe and other global players, which former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi identifies as a critical witness in his report. Well, I could talk about this specific paragraph until the cows come home and will still not be finished. Yes, indeed. The one part that is true in that entire paragraph is the fact that the EU is leaps and bounds behind both China and the US. The EU is not competitive in any way, shape or form when it comes to IT. Just think about it. All these big companies from the United States, from Silicon Valley, take your pick, Facebook, MetApp, Apple, Tesla, whatever. These companies, they do not have a European counterpart. There is none. The Chinese, they have WeChat. The companies in China and the United States are night and day compared to what we have in Europe. So I understand that part. And the problem is that this difference, this discrepancy, the regional end in sight, the line will only diverge the difference between Europe and the rest of these two superpowers, or it's only gonna increase because we don't have a cloud-based technology here. Take a look at all these big companies. What do they do? What do they offer? They offer an app. They offer cloud services. Europe has nothing, nothing to compete with these guys. How is Ukraine the solution to that problem? How? I mean, I'm not that familiar. I must admit just a disclaimer. I'm not familiar with every single innovation that Ukraine has brought in the IT sector. True. But I can't imagine they can be the solution to this problem because this problem is very, how should I put it? This problem exists for such a long time that you must really think there's almost a desire not, for Europe not to actually elevate itself from the position it currently finds itself in. I mean, there's been multiple attempts for the European companies, for startups, to actually come up with something big. And as soon as they reach a level, there comes a big company from the United States, it buys them out, kills the company, or absorbs it entirely. So there is absolutely no chance for a single European company to actually raise its head above whatever level is allowed by the United States. That's really the gist of it. Again, this is not the problem Ukraine can help with. In addition, he knows that Ukraine's ascension could push the EU towards necessary reforms. Or really, I mean, maybe we're talking about democracy here. Who knows? In Ivan Nagorniak's opinion, the process of Ukraine's integration could stimulate the simplification of bureaucracy in the European Union and the modernization of his regulatory framework, changes that Draghi considers necessary to enhance the EU's competitiveness. Quote, "At the same time, an important factor that cannot be ignored is the financial consequences of Ukraine's ascension, whereas the head of European integration at easy business." Well, let's unpack that. So let's go back to the previous paragraph, where they say that we need to reduce the bureaucracy in the EU. Oh, I could not agree more. However, I must ask, how will Ukraine help with that? In fact, you know what? I've just thought of the answer. The way in which Ukraine can help with bureaucracy. If we in the EU adopt the system of governance that the Ukraine has, as in with the democratically elected president, Volodymyr Zelensky, you know, whose wish just becomes law, I am sure the level of bureaucracy would be zero, right? Because you have someone at the top who just says what he wants to do, and then it just happens. Oh, wait, I think that's dictatorship, isn't it? I mean, it might be dictatorship, my friends, but you know what? It simplifies the bureaucracy, so why not? Let's go for it. Come on. Also, let's address the financial aspect. Ukraine, at the very minute, just the last month, Ukraine was this close, a minute close, to being in a default. The debt is just mounting and mounting and mounting at the prospect of Ukraine improving its situation at this point in time. Well, it doesn't exist, because you see the war is still going on, is nowhere near being finished, so you don't even know how Ukraine will look like once this conflict is over. What parts of Ukraine will still be Ukraine, and what parts of Ukraine will be Russia? How can you make assessments until you at least know where the borders are? Will they even have access to the Black Sea? These are all questions that obviously the European leaders should ask themselves. However, these guys at European Pravda, I mean, I must admit, this is one of the most daring and bold marketing strategies I've seen in my life, and I've seen some, but this one, oh, this one trumps everything. Listen to this one. On the one hand, the development of Ukraine's infrastructure and institutional strengthening will require significant costs. Oh, really? Captain obvious. On the other hand, the EU is already facing demands to increase investments in innovation and strategic sectors. Quote, "However, Ukraine's ascension could serve "as a catalyst for a broader rethinking "of the EU's role in the global economy and geopolitics." Again, one of those things where you just read words who don't make sense when you put them together. Again, how does Ukraine's ascension serve as a catalyst for a broader rethinking? What exactly is it that we need to rethink? I think the biggest problem in Europe, I think the biggest problem in Europe, is not the fact that we need to rethink anything. What we need to do is to become sovereign, okay? Sovereign from the master across the ocean. That's the biggest problem. All the rest will almost fix themselves just by doing this one thing, okay? We don't even even need to talk about Ukraine. We don't even need to talk about individual states. All we have to do is just become sovereign, okay? That's all it needs to happen. And everything else, just like a game, will almost just fall into place. And now the last bit, my friends. In order for this potential to be realized, the EU must view Ukraine's integration not just as another enlargement, but as a strategic opportunity to address its competitiveness challenges, the expert points out. What I would love to ask this expert, just to give us a little bit more detail, but practical details, okay? Not that wooden language with a catalyst for broader rethinking, not that type of languages. Speak like, speak to a normal human being, yeah? And just explain how and what, name four bullet points, and say, look, these are the points in which Ukraine can actually help the EU, and this is how. That's all I need to know. My friends, what do you think of this? Personally, I mean, these people, they write such egregious articles, and by the way, this is an article, but the even bigger problem is, they're actually debating this. They're actually debating this in the European Parliament, behind closed doors. They're actually thinking about it. This is why they print it, okay? Just so they get you used to the idea that Ukraine might be the solution. I mean, imagine, okay, imagine, I've made a video about Turkey joining the EU, and regardless of what you think of Turkey, regardless of what opinion you have, just think of this one thing. Turkey, or Turkey has applied to join the EU, well, in its current iteration, since 2005, they're in negotiations. I know they've applied a lot longer than that, but in its current form, it's been of almost 20 years, and Turkey, or Turkey is not even close to being in the EU. I think they've already given up. How do you think that makes them feel when they see this, this sort of thing? With Ukraine, a country that is at war, besides being at war, is in massive mountains of death. This just makes no sense whatsoever. But I guess, you know, we live in a world where things don't have to make sense. They just have to be profitable for a select few. My friends, I hope you've enjoyed this episode. The whole point was just to bring you this egregious, egregious article, and yeah, just to make you smile. I hope I've succeeded in that, and I wish you a fantastic evening. I'll see you tomorrow. Take care, and bye-bye.