Ursula von der Leyen isn’t happy, and she is going into full madame mode to let us know it.

She is frustrated that Georgia– a sovereign state, a state with a democratically-elected government, and most of all a state which is not a member of the EU – has decided to delay until 2028 its negotiations to join the EU.

That is it, that is the insult.

Von der Leyen cannot tolerate it. She has ordered sanctions prepared against Georgia. Her ambassador to Georgia has expressed his “growing alarm” over what Georgia is doing, ie, being democratic. And by the way he doesn’t like the Georgian police much, either.

We have seen all this before. The EU has encouraged pro-EU forces in Romania to withdraw recognition of victory of the hard-right independent Călin Georgescu in the first round of the Romanian presidential elections on November 24.

Georgescu won the vote, but the forces around von der Leyen wanted it cancelled. They succeeded. All of Georgescu’s votes have been vanished into democratic nothing.

In the EU, in any state that might join the EU, there is one way to vote, and it is the Ursula von der Leyen way. Anything else must be “reconsidered.”

It’s only democratic, according to von der Leyen, if you are voting her way. If you are not, you must be a puppet of Vladimir Putin (and so Brussels has a right to suppress you and your wretched vote that went the wrong way, you stupid little nobody).

One moves from the arrogant unelected German von der Leyen to the definitely elected Fidias Panayiotou, a 25-year-old Cypriot MEP and YouTuber with 2.7 million subscribers. As Anne-Laure Dufeal reports today Panayiotou is creating a digital app that he hopes will allow European citizens to participate actively in European politics by voting on topics discussed in the European Parliament.

I say, good try, Fidias. We are fans of Fidias here. However, I think that what will happen is that the app will be a vast shouting zone of upset Europeans.

Still, it will at least be closer to listening to people and what they want. None of that is going on at the European Commission. Over there it is the foot-stamping queen and the courtiers. How long can that go on? Don’t know. But one hopes Fidias will soon ask his followers how they feel about tumbrils and blades.

M E Synon

Carl Deconinck