The EU thread

[Sheilbh]

And what will happen to the dogs 

Dogs are fine in a house by the sea

The pigs are very much temporary residents. I think the current ones are named "pig 33" and "pig 34" :ph344r:

those could run for parliament?

Overqualified.

[Tonitrus]

The pigs are very much temporary residents. I think the current ones are named "pig 33" and "pig 34" :ph344r:

Not quite as poetic as Napoleon or Snowball.

[crazy canuck]

The pigs are very much temporary residents. I think the current ones are named "pig 33" and "pig 34" :ph344r:

Not quite as poetic as Napoleon or Snowball.

 

[Sheilbh]

Not quite as poetic as Napoleon or Snowball.

No-one wants a poetic freezer

[Jacob]

Steve Bannon has apparently said that Le Pen winning in France is the third step to destroying the EU - step 1 being Brexit and step 2 being Trump's current Nationalist-Populist policies.

Coincidentally (?), the Trump administration seems to be talking about sanctioning French judges if they rule against Le Pen at her upcoming trial.

[Duque de Bragança]

Steve Bannon has apparently said that Le Pen winning in France is the third step to destroying the EU - step 1 being Brexit and step 2 being Trump's current Nationalist-Populist policies.

Coincidentally (?), the Trump administration seems to be talking about sanctioning French judges if they rule against Le Pen at her upcoming trial.

Damn, Bardella must be pissed off at this piece of news. 

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Steve Bannon has apparently said that Le Pen winning in France is the third step to destroying the EU - step 1 being Brexit and step 2 being Trump's current Nationalist-Populist policies.

Coincidentally (?), the Trump administration seems to be talking about sanctioning French judges if they rule against Le Pen at her upcoming trial.

France may have to go tit for tat on that. If it comes to pass

[Jacob]

Was hanging out with a French friend yesterday. She was saying that her family back in France feel like it's basically a certainty that the FN will win the presidential election in 2027 - whether Le Pen is able to run, or Bardella is the candidate.

Any thoughts from languishites who are plugged into French politics?

Because personally I feel like it would be a pretty big blow to Europe and the EU if Putin aligned nationalists take control of France.

[Duque de Bragança]

Thanks to Macron, it becomes more than possible, and yes likely. Though any decent candidate could still play the Mitterrand trick and get elected thanks to anything but (Marine) Le Pen, who is more palatable than her father ; even more so for Bardella. The latter is still seen as inexperienced, however.

Bardella had made some statements trying to distance himself from the pro-Putin line of Marine, but they are hard to take at face value and require at the very least confirmation.
Putin – and Trump – are an embarrassment to the RN actually, so they won't play up their relative ideological proximity cf. their statements on the Venezuela affair. The most pro-Putin was Zemmour and it cost him dearly, with him being sidelined for now.

[Sheilbh]

Was hanging out with a French friend yesterday. She was saying that her family back in France feel like it's basically a certainty that the FN will win the presidential election in 2027 - whether Le Pen is able to run, or Bardella is the candidate.

Any thoughts from languishites who are plugged into French politics?

Because personally I feel like it would be a pretty big blow to Europe and the EU if Putin aligned nationalists take control of France.

It looks very possible - not inevitable but definitely plausible. No idea what that would mean for the legislatives which may then just deepen the crisis.

From a Euro-perspective it seems the thing we're not really preparing for in any real way. The election is in a bit less than 18 months which is before the next German or (likely) British elections and for Germany and Britain I think it would be another trauma/shock (for slightly different reasons). So I could be wrong but it feels like everyone is just ignoring the possibility it might happen.

One interesting point on Bardella, if it is him, is that Meloni and Le Pen detest each other. I don't think that's the case for Bardella and Meloni. The current political make-up has some reflection in the Commission etc - but I think we probably need to think through what a significantly more far-right EU looks like and how it acts on the world stage.

FWIW in a strange way there's maybe a side which is less concerning in relation to Trump and the US which is that most of the far and radical right in Europe are strongly sovereigntist, which may actually support more and more rapid re-armament and building of hard power within Europe. But it will be at (as it is now and as is envisioned by the treaties) at a member state level.

[Tonitrus]

Meanwhile, in Moldova...

Moldova's President Sandu says she would vote to join Romania
By Alexander Tanas
January 12, 20268:59 AM PSTUpdated January 12, 2026

CHISINAU, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Moldovan President Maia Sandu has said she would vote in favour of unification with neighbouring European Union and NATO member Romania if a referendum were to take place to help protect its fragile democracy against Russian pressure.

Russia says Moldova's plans to merge with Romania would destroy its statehood

MOSCOW, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that plans floated by Moldova's president to hold a referendum on reunification with Romania would be destructive to Moldovan statehood.

[Duque de Bragança]

Well Russia is not in a position to intervene in Moldavia, beyond Transnistria (it's trans so Trump will ignore it at best ), due to the war in Ukraine. Ukraine won't let the Russians fly in reinforcements and would intervene on the Moldavian side, if they can.

Not to mention Romania, now a NATO member.

It's a far cry from the 1992 Russian intervention.