Rodriqo Ballester
Corvinak, Jan. 3, 2023
“… let’s not forget to underline the immense cynicism of Qatar when it takes offence at the cultural imperialism of the West while it has invested billions to radicalise the Muslim populations of Europe and propagate the Brotherhood ideology.”
Atlantico.fr: The scandal of the funds apparently paid to some MEPs to influence their vote highlights the issue of corruption in Brussels. But also a much more political challenge with Europe targeted as the “soft underbelly” of the West. What is this Qatargate all about?
Rodrigo Ballester: First of all, it is the name of an unprecedented scandal in the European bubble. After all, it’s about a vice-president of the European Parliament who was arrested by the Belgian authorities and who is said to have hundreds of thousands of euros in her suitcases, no less! It is also the name of a European Parliament full of itself, lecturing to the point of satiety, which sees itself as a continental or even planetary moral authority, drunk with virtuous signals, and which has suddenly fallen from the pedestal on which it has placed itself. And it is finally the name of a European bubble that is increasingly infatuated with politically correct ideologies, extremely receptive to ‘civil society’, which it willingly confuses with European citizens, vulnerable but upright in its dogmatic boots and highly suggestible. In this case, it is a case of serious corruption, which is fortunately rare. But the real problem is precisely this ecosystem that allows the entry of lobbies of all kinds and, worse, extremely dangerous ideologies.
Atlantico.fr: The Greek vice-president of the parliament, Eva Kailli, had declared about Qatar. “We do not have the right to give moral lessons in order to get low-level media attention. To what extent is this statement part of a strategy of guilt-tripping and relativism that is common among Islamists? Do we have other examples?
R.B.: These statements are most probably an echo of the petro-dollars that this MP would have filled her pockets with (presumably innocently). They are worthless, she doesn’t believe a word of it, she is probably just rehashing the language of a consultant paid handsomely by Doha. Personally, I think that the West in general, including the EU, too often seeks to impose a catalogue of values that it considers universal while others see it as cultural imperialism. But that is not the issue! The problem is to invoke this relativism in our own European societies in order to give an alibi to ideologies that are contrary to the laws and morals of our countries. This is the perversity of the cult of “diversity” and “inclusion” which have become vectors of social atomisation and instruments of emotional blackmail. An “intersectional” boon that is used by lobbies and pressure groups to impose points of view, obtain privileges and undermine the common denominator that is essential to any society. …SOURCE
