Comments by "Paul Aiello" (@paul1979uk2000) on "How Poland's Election Could Change Europe" video.

  1. Yeah, Ukraine really did open up a big device in those two countries views on many things, Hungary have become more hardline since then whiles Poland has softened it's tone. I personally think Hungary will get kicked out of the EU one way or the other as their interest are not in the interest of the EU and it's other members, whereas Poland might be saved, but Poland was going the same way before the war in Ukraine started, and might still be going. Either way, they are not a threat to Germany and France, because those two countries know how to play the game with cooperation, working with other members and compromise, which is becoming a major weakness of Hungary and Poland, mainless out of self-interest, which you don't really make friends with other members like that, the UK found that out the hard way and they are more powerful than Poland and Hungary combined. If Poland and Hungary really want to boost their power in the EU, they need to work with other members, that means compromising in a lot of areas and doing things that are in the interest of most members, not just themselves, the UK never got that memo, France and Germany did, hence why they've been so successful, I'm seeing a repeat on Poland and Hungary, taking the role the UK had, whereas power will shift to a degree, it always does when new members are in, but it's not likely going to shift towards Poland or Hungary, and more likely to shift to other smaller countries in the east that are more moderate in their views.
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  2. I think the real problem for Poland and Hungary that many seem to forget is that you can't change Europe in any big way unless you make friends within the EU and it's members, Poland and Hungary are not doing a good job with that, especially with how they use their veto and how it's their way or the highway attitude. There's a reason why the likes of Germany and France are far more successful in the EU then say the UK was, and that's because they work with others, they compromise, water things down and corporate with other EU members, that's the key to getting things done in the EU, Germany and France knows how to play that game, Poland and especially Hungary don't, which is why they are not a threat to Germany or France or EU unity as a group, because most of the other members have a different vision in the EU then what Poland and Hungary wants it to be, so the end result for Hungary and Poland is more or less what ended up happening to the UK, isolation within the EU, something we've been seeing early signs of already. If those countries want real power in the EU, they have to have the interest of the EU and it's members at heart, that's clearly something Hungary doesn't have, Poland on the other hand likely can change but that's up to them to change, but as it is, there are not a threat to the EU or it's other members, the only other thing that can cause real change is if enough of the population in the EU members change views on what they want, but most of us are moderates and tend to vote accordingly, even when we give far left and right parties a chance, those parties have to tone things down a lot and become more moderate to appeal to a lot more voters, after all, if they don't tone things down and make a mess of things, they likely might not get elected again, after all, most of us want stability. It's partly the reason the government in Italy has tone things down a lot, being in power now, if they mess up, it's likely the people won't vote that party in again, so they have no choice but to moderate their views to appeal more to the people, regardless of what their real views are, after all, most of us want growth, stability and peace, not for the country to turn upside down.
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  3.  @FrikInCasualMode  I don't, I'm British so I know there's a big difference at times from public thinking and government thinking on things, as we saw with Brexit in the UK. I know most Polish are pro EU, whereas the government isn't so much anti EU but are playing a game of power grab, which is a dangerous game if the Polish people don't step up and put a stop to it, and I do feel that if Poland and Hungary were not in the EU, these two countries would be turning into an authoritarian system a lot sooner, but being in the EU, it's giving the government a lot of pause. The truth is, the people in both countries need to step up and hold the governments to account, if they don't, longer term it's going to lead to both countries being forced out of the EU, which is probably what both governments want because they can enact their changes without the EU blocking them, history has shown that it usually impacts the people in a negative way. At the end of the day, the EU can only do so much to keep both countries on the straight and narrow, the people need to wake up and hold their governments to account, otherwise it's going to be the people, not the government that pays the high price, just like the UK is learning that lesson the hard way on Brexit, because the pro European lot didn't turn up in numbers to keep the UK in the EU, now the UK is paying a high price for that, the price for Poland and Hungary would be much higher than the UK, because they are still developing their economy and political stability, there's also the factor that Russia would take advantage of both countries if they see them as being vulnerable. At the end of the day, the EU and its other members are only going to take so much crap from Poland and Hungary before bigger calls are heard to push them out of the EU, in the case of Hungary, I think it's already too late and that they will get kicked out over the next decade, unless something radically changes in the country, but in the case of Poland, I think they can be saved, but that really depends on the Polish people, either way, both countries are playing with fire and it could end badly if they are not careful. Also, I know some will say there isn't any legal ways for the EU and it's other members to kick these countries out, one thing I've learned about the EU and politics, there are always loopholes around a lot of these kinds of problems, and if push comes to shove, they will find a way to boot both countries out if the two countries don't get their act together, and what we are seeing in Poland and Hungary, isn't that different from what we are seeing in Russia, people say a lot of the population doesn't support government policy, and yet they are standing on the sidelines doing little to stop the government, it's not really that different from in Russia and the war in Ukraine, many Russians don't agree with the war, but they are doing little to nothing to stop it, and fair enough, in Russia, there is the fear factor from the government, but that isn't the case in Poland and Hungary, so there are no excuses for the people to continue to let this happen, especially if the people don't support their governments, and I think the next two elections are going to be critical depending on which way the people vote.
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  4. Yeah I always wonder about how the media goes on about the threat from the likes of Poland and Hungary, but most in the west don't seem to care, in fact, they welcome more voices. With that said, the UK was a much bigger player in the EU than Poland and Hungary are combined and they got pushed aside by Germany and France. The key to success in the EU is cooperation with the EU and it's members, working with other members and compromise in many areas, this is where it's becoming a weak point for Poland and especially Hungary, after all, anything that tries to hurt EU and other members interest, will likely get stiff opposition from other members, this is where Poland and Hungary are getting it all wrong, a bit like how the UK did when it was a member, and because of that, I don't see power shifting that much, apart from to a few eastern EU members that have different views on the EU project then Poland and Hungary have
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