The news from Austria, where the far-right Freedom Party had finished first in the general election, is yet another blow for an intransigent Europe – for which read EU – that has let itself be driven to “Nowhereland” by centre-right parties that do not have the steel to meet, headfirst, the far-right surge across the continent. There is a huge ideological imbalance within the European Parliament, for just one example, and so many scandals have rocked the very bottom of its leaders, for the truth is they actually feel far-right but conveniently prefer to be in centre-right sheep’s clothing.

For them, a far-right victory anywhere in Europe is much better than a socialist reawakening, as the relatively recent victory of the Left in France amply showed. The EU has been rendered a soulless institution, NATO’s political arm. It is now lost in doubt and afraid to assume its responsibilities regarding issues that the far-right have made uniquely theirs, such as immigration with the slogan of “remigration of uninvited foreigners” and the pledge to suspend the right to asylum and the creation of “Fortress Austria”, inflation, and the war in Ukraine with specific calls for an end to sanctions against Russia.

While Israel bombards Gaza, Yemen, and Lebanon, killing hundreds more of innocent civilians who, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (he’s a Polish settler, really, who used to be known by his native name of Benzion Mileikowsky), were hiding missiles in their kitchens, the EU remains concentrated solely on Ukraine. Is it any wonder why far-right parties have been making massive gains everywhere with their condemnation of EU anti-Russia sanctions that have led to the worrying decay of several European economies, including Germany’s? You simply cannot refuse to offer citizens a respite from soaring inflation, and imposing sanctions on businesses and entrepreneurs while at the same time sending billions’ worth of weapons and armaments on a conveyor belt to Ukraine.

So, we now have Herbert Kickl, a former interior minister who was dismissed over Austria’s “Ibiza scandal”, with almost 30 per cent of the electorate and inevitably demanding he becomes Austria’s new Chancellor. And this from a politician who refers to himself as “Volkskanzler”, chancellor of the people, a 1930s term used by the Nazis to describe Adolf Hitler.

While the EU continues to dig itself into a deepening hole, the far-right’s populist agenda, such as tackling the welfare system where benefits are to be linked to citizenship, a ban on “political Islam”, and a two-gender constitutional determination to jam the equality process, continues to attract more and more voters. The European dream is a shattered mirror.

If I were Jason

After yesterday’s news from the law courts, it must have been difficult for Jason Azzopardi, the failed politician, to make his early morning walk this morning. If I were Jason, in fact, I would have brought down the shutters and spent the day masticating the court’s severe words exposing his downright lies about Labour MP Carmelo Abela in connection with the HSBC heist story.

Having savagely robbed three whole years from the Abela household with his lies, even if a vast majority of people knew even then it was all a sham, his conscience can’t leave him serene. Of course, it’s not the €7,000 compensation money that could be worrying him. It certainly does not reflect the gravity and impact of his lies.

One has to wonder also what his Repubblika camerati must be thinking. Has he become an embarrassment, or will they come out to defend him and renew their attacks on the judiciary every time it goes against their wishes and strategies? Jason Azzopardi has been testing the law courts’ patience for years, only to be patted and often let off with mild admonishments, as if some within those corridors were afraid to trample even on the shadow of his toes.

If I were Jason, I might even contemplate travelling abroad to avoid the humiliation, but not back in Tel Aviv. He wouldn’t like the Hezbollah missiles flying overhead and the sirens.

Three points to ponder

The world of international politics is bewildering. This West vs Russia/China game is all in the interest of weapon manufacturers and their corrupt politician friends. History has become a rubber ball to squeeze and throw about in mindless attempts at erasing those chapters which, today, somehow feel uncomfortable for some.

These are just three of many ironical points to ponder:

• Great Britain, the greatest colonial empire ever, insistently links Russia to “enslaving peoples of Africa”
• At the 79^th anniversary of the A-bombing of Hiroshima by the United States, Japan accuses Russia of making “nuclear threats”
• Russia will not be invited to the 80^th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by, as your history book will tell you, Soviet troops

This is not entertainment as perceived within a shimmering Hollywood psyche, but an absolute threat to humanity.