mr president this resolution recalls the horrors of fascism and of soviet communism
no european no child of western civilisation no civilised human being could disagree
but it then goes on to posit the european union as an alternative or antidote to such totalitarianism
it reads the european union has a particular responsibility to promote and safeguard democracy both inside and outside the european union
it is here my friends that you make your bloomer
the european union is not safeguarding democracy either internally or externally
abroad it is doing business with castro's cuba with the ayatollahs in tehran it is demanding the right to sell arms to communist china
at home it is striking down referendum results when they go against closer integration
now of course one has to be careful making such parallels
no one is arguing that the european union is a soviet system that takes away people's passports or runs gulags or operates show trials
but it should deeply worry us when any system claims that the ruling ideology is too important to be subjected to the ballot box
