Europe’s Big Freedom Fail

It's time for the European Union to get serious about enforcing democratic standards.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL-MARCH 25, 2016

The European Union doesn’t give a damn about democracy. Yeah, sure, they keep saying they do — and they’ve been saying it again in the wake of this week’s terrorist attack in Brussels. But their actions are sending a distinctly different message.

Exhibit A: the shameful deal that European officials concluded with Turkey last week. The EU wanted Ankara to help it stanch the flow of refugees, hundreds of thousands of whom have passed through Turkey on their way West. To make this happen, the Europeans promised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a lot of money and a renewed promise of future membership in the EU. The Turks were happy to oblige — for a very high price.

What was Ankara asking in return? Basically that Europe turn a blind eye to Erdogan’s systematic demolition of his country’s democratic institutions. Working hard to concentrate power in his own hands, he has purged the judiciary, the police, and the military, filling the vacated positions with his loyalists. He has cracked down on the media, sending dozens of journalists and critical academics to jail. And he has declared an all-out war on separatists, labeling anyone who disagrees with him a “terrorist.”


On March 3, European Council President Donald Tuskvisited Ankara to discuss the planned refugee deal with the Turkish government. A few hours later, Turkish police stormed the headquarters of Zaman, the country’s largest circulation newspaper. That turned out to be the prelude to a full-blown government takeover. The Europeans barely made a peep. Erdogan knew that he had them where he wanted them.

Just in case Brussels didn’t get the message, the Turkish president gave a speech a few days later in which he denounced anyone who dared to challenge his course. The fight against terrorism, he said, dispelled any need to worry about pesky niceties such as “[d]emocracy, freedom, and the rule of law.” These principles, Erdogan declared, have “absolutely no value any longer.” And this is supposed to be a candidate for EU membership?

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