Comments by "Alex" (@Alex-df4lt) on "EVERY EU Political Grouping Explained: What Do They Stand For - TLDR News" video.

@corpclarke The EU is an elitist project, therefore people tended to voice their disagreement with it whenever a referendum was called on further integration. After Brexit there will be no further referendum as the elite don't want to risk Brexit repeating. Despite its drawbacks the EU is pretty much a necessity for Europe in 21th century to stand up to Russia and China. It has been quite successful in promoting democracy in eastern Europe. Democrat Americans seem to love it as we have all the free stuff they want in the US. It's probably a better place to live for average Americans.
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Newsflash, you're voting for neocommunists as that's what progressives are.
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All totalitarian parties should be banned, regardless if they are right or left wing. That includes communists and far right.
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@corpclarke It's the national governments that move Europe forward, not EU parliament. If only Americans knew what a good place it is to live in nowadays...
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@corpclarke We in Eastern EU have no intention of abandoning democracy. Democratic backsliding is an issue in some countries like Hungary. Still it is much better off than Serbia or Ukraine. Countries in Eastern Europe that didn't join the EU are much worse off economically and face more serious issues with regard to democracy. Fall of iron curtain was a giant leap forward for many countries in Eastern Europe and those countries that got left behind will look to us as a role model. Having countries of varied cost of living is an advantage as it allows the EU to keep manufacturing base while skilled workers in eastern parts get paid well on the same level as their western counterparts and have no reason to migrate. This is an advantage when making free trade deals as the EU can undercut all developed countries due to cheaper manufacturing.
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@corpclarke Accession to the EU created pressure on applying countries to align and reform their political and economic systems with the EU, instead of having to reinvent the wheel in a corrupt young democracy (we see how that works in South America). We saw how long Afghan democracy lasted without US support. Young democracies need support until the old generation is replaced which is what happened in Eastern EU members. Those who remained outside the EU faced no pressure to reform and made no progress whatsoever. Now the boat has sailed and they are bleeding skilled workforce to the EU and US. They wasted their opportunities and will not recover within the next 20-30 years as they do not have skilled workforce to do so. In 1990 everybody was at the same starting line and they blew it. It's a perfect situation for Poland, Czechia, Slovakia though as they can attract skilled workforce from Belarus, Ukraine, Russia. The EU being a political union, not just an economic one allowed it to exert pressure on the east to reform which proved to be successful. Those who stray like Hungary will face punishment. The case of Hungary goes to show the political aspect of the EU is essential. Democracies need to help each other, not only economically but also politically. Promotion of democracy in Eastern Europe has been a great success unlike Iraq/Afghanistan.
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