Can the Constitution Save Us?

The EU has been offered as a cure for many ills, but our very own Blogging Commissioner has taken it further than anyone ever dared.

Margot Wallstrom, a Swede and the commissioner who must sell the draft constitution to voters, marked VE Day yesterday by accusing Eurosceptics of risking a return to the Holocaust by clinging to "nationalistic pride".

Wow, now I will change my mind about opposing this benevolent charter. Well maybe not. Did it never occur to this Swedish Fount of wisdom that the most Eurosceptic of the current members are as follows: United Kingdom: Responsible for defeating the Nazi curse, together with its Imperialist US big brother. Denmark: Suffered Nazi occupation. Czech Republic: Saw the Great Nations of Europe allow it to be dismembered by the Nazis. Poland: Was destroyed by first Nazi Invasion and then by the Soviets. Sweden: Remained neutral during the conflict. Ok so there are many factors in play here, but if countries with histories such as these are more Eurosceptic than most, does that not undermine her arguments? Besides, describing Hitler as a nationalist is a little like describing the Sun as hot. True, but a wild understatement of the reality. The successor to the evil empire went even further than this:

Her fellow commissioners also issued a joint declaration, stating that EU citizens should pay tribute to the dead of the Second World War by voting Yes to the draft constitution for Europe. The commissioners also gave the EU sole credit for ending the Cold War, making no mention of the role of Nato and the United States.

Without the resolve of successive US administrations, far from seeing the end of communism, we would all be speaking Russian today. Whilst the predecessors of the EU (The EU did not exist in 1989) were instrumental in creating a united front toward the USSR, this was helpful only in as much as it discouraged invasion. Only a strong NATO and a retired B List actor ably abetted by the daughter of a grocer, were able to bring the USSR down.