Sovereigntist parties in European politics
A relatively new term has appeared in the contemporary political lexicon – sovereigntist parties. We discover these self-styled sovereigntist parties all over Europe, especially in the states of the European Union. At the European political level, these parties have coalesced into the Patriots for Europe group, which includes France’s National Rally, Hungary’s FIDESZ and Italy’s La Lega. Another group is the Europe of Sovereign Nations, coalesced around the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which Șoșoaca's Romanian SOS party tried to align itself with, but was refused. The third group is the European Conservatives and Reformists, which the AUR party of Romania joined. It should be noted that after the European Parliament elections, the Conservatives and Reformists’ coalition became the third largest group in the European Parliament and, together with the other two parties, they make up the most formidable sovereigntist bloc that has ever existed in European politics.
The sovereigntist doctrine embraced by a number of European parties is an ideological product of recent origin, and the political theory, for the time being, only outlines the theoretical matrix, which could encompass these formations as a common body with convergent political attitudes and qualities, even despite the existence of substantial differences between these parties in particular areas. However, at this stage, political theory highlights some undeniable common features for sovereigntist parties. The first and essential feature is related to the positioning of the sovereigntists as declared opponents of the political integration processes of the states within the EU. In other words, sovereigntists oppose the tendencies to transform the current EU confederal structure into a federation of European states with a common foreign and defense policy and with binding federal rules for all member states. For sovereigntists, the political ideal is a Europe of nations in which sovereign states retain their authority over the most important attributes of power.
Sovereigntists, opponents of capitalist economy
At the economic level, the sovereigntist parties, with particular nuances between them, position themselves as opponents of the liberal economy and seek the resumption of state control over national economic policies. They contest the economic principle of the free movement of goods and merchandise, demand the establishment of a centralized economy with the redistribution of national wealth, which was patented in history by the communist and fascist regimes. As a last resort, the followers of the current sovereigntist current accept the application of nationalization procedures, especially of companies that are part of multinationals. They plead the cause of the rebirth of sovereign national economies, in contrast to the economic processes of globalization, given that the state must play a central role in the economy because only the state can ensure the "national", "sovereign" dimension of the economy. In fact, the sovereigntists position themselves as opponents of the capitalist economy, which, by its essence, fuels the existence of the political regimes of liberal democracy.
Conspiracy theories and characteristics of sovereigntist parties
At the geopolitical level, sovereigntist parties position themselves as followers of the conspiracy theory regarding the danger of erasing national borders by establishing a world government. In the sovereigntists’ opinion, the United States of America is the center of this conspiracy as it, allegedly, turned the European leaders into characters obedient to these plans. For sharing this conspiracy theory, the sovereigntist parties are also anti-American.
On the other hand, the anti-Americanism of the sovereigntists abundantly fuels the Russophile sentiments, characteristic of these parties and, by extension, also pronounced anti-Ukrainian attitudes. Perhaps, with the exception of the Fratelli d'Italia party, which firmly declared its support for Ukraine, all sovereigntist parties for various reasons speak out against Western support for Ukraine aggressed by Putin's Russia. The leaders of these parties, from the AUR, SOS Șoșoacă and Călin Georgescu in Romania to Viktor Orbán's FIDESZ in Hungary or Marine Le Pen's National Front in France, or Mateo Salvini's La Lega in Italy, all consider Vladimir Putin as an example of a promoter of sovereigntist policies and, for this reason, they seek to strengthen ties with Moscow and simultaneously want to restrict those with the U.S.
The boundless love of European sovereigntists for the current Kremlin leader was explained by the revelations of the press, which established that most of the sovereigntist parties are on Moscow's payroll. Thus, the German press brought to light the financial ties between the AfD party and Russia, the latter generously financing, directly and indirectly, the German far-right party. It is known that Marine Le Pen received a loan of €9 million from a Russian bank associated with the Kremlin in 2017, before the presidential election. In Italy, a publication brought to light a deal involving La Lega leader and former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, in which the Russians were supposed to sell US$1.5 billion worth of oil to the Italian company ENI, and several million of this deal were to be diverted to La Lega.
In the spring of this year, Czech and Belgian intelligence services discovered that an undetermined number of MEPs had been paid by the Russians to defend Russian interests in the plenary session of the European Parliament and to carry out pro-Russian propaganda. Data about the extent of this "operation", how many MEPs are involved and who they are were not revealed, but it was specified that among them are Germans, French, Dutch and even Danes.
Impact of the sovereigntist rhetoric on the Republic of Moldova
For the Republic of Moldova, the rise of the so-called European sovereigntists, especially those in Romania, represents a real political danger because it affects the prospects of European integration. The anti-EU sovereigntist rhetoric and the sympathies shown for authoritarian regimes, including the one in Russia, stimulate Moldovan public opinion towards geopolitical reorientation, distancing it from the EU and bringing it closer to alternative spheres of influence, which would irreversibly affect Moldova's European aspirations.
Sovereigntist currents exploit citizens' dissatisfaction with economic or social conditions to fuel skepticism about the EU. In a society such as the one in the Republic of Moldova, where there is still a fragile balance between the supporters of European integration and those of pro-Eastern orientation, this influence could change the public perception and, implicitly, the strategic direction of development of the state.
Moldova's integration into the EU also depends on the support of member countries. Sovereigntists in European states could diminish this support through their opposition to EU enlargement. The examples of countries such as Hungary, which often question common EU decisions, could create additional obstacles to Moldova's European integration.
The sovereigntist currents are supported and, not infrequently, manipulated by external actors, who want to destabilize the European Union. Recently, a document of the Romanian Ministry of Interior was declassified and shows that in the election campaign in Romania, a pattern of use of social networks similar to the one operated in Ukraine in the period prior to the initiation of the Russian Federation’s aggression against this state was identified. More specifically, in the declassified document it was found that the information campaign "Balance and Verticality", conducted by the Romanian "sovereigntists" in the current election campaign in Romania, is identical to the "Brother next to Brother" campaign, carried out by the Russian Federation in Ukraine.
For the Republic of Moldova, which in turn suffers from the criminal practices aimed at distorting electoral democracy, through the procedures of political corruption, operated by the Shor group and supported by Moscow, the domination of the sovereigntist current poses a major risk as it can delay or even stop the integration into the EU. To prevent these dangers, it is essential that political leaders and civil society actively promote the benefits of the partnership with the EU, counter disinformation and make a firm commitment to implementing reforms in line with the Acquis Communautaire.
