As NATO and the EU emulate Mussolini's 'everything within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state', They are going full Borg.
First up, on the "You will be assimilated" front, a quick definition from the all-knowing one, Wikipedia:
Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and controls the public sphere and the private sphere of society.And from Spiked Online, March 25:
A new ‘cooperation agreement’ with Brussels looks certain to undermine Swiss democracy.
Switzerland and the European Union have restarted negotiations on a cooperation agreement that would deepen their institutional and trading ties. It would also do great damage to Swiss democracy and sovereignty.
Earlier this month, Viola Amherd, Switzerland’s federal president, met with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, to start the discussions. According to the EU mandate for the talks, the aim is to complete negotiations by the end of this year, before Switzerland’s federal council eventually puts the deal to the public in a referendum. This could happen anytime between 2026 and 2029.
It should be said that all this is far from a fait accompli. Swiss politicians have already tried and failed to deepen institutional ties with the EU before. Following negotiations lasting seven years, the federal council was forced to pull out in 2021 after a proposed agreement received a resounding thumbs down from Swiss politicians and the broader public. Left-wingers complained that the agreement would undermine wage protections for Swiss workers, while right-wingers did not want to give the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) sovereignty over Switzerland’s laws. An incensed EU responded punitively, denying the Swiss stock exchange access to European financial markets, slapping expensive regulations on Switzerland’s medical technology industry and restricting cooperation in the electricity market.
Now, however, pressure from Switzerland’s political and economic elites seems to have pushed the federal council back to the negotiating table. Worryingly, the EU mandate suggests that any agreement between the two sides will be little different to that which was proposed in 2021.
Brussels and the federal council are seeking to update five existing bilateral agreements on freedom of movement, trade, agriculture, air travel and land transport. They also aim to hammer out new cooperation agreements on electricity, food security, healthcare, research programmes and education.
All of this may sound benign, but the devil is in the detail. First published in December 2023, the EU’s mandate states that under any agreement, Switzerland should automatically adopt EU laws relating to areas of bilateral cooperation. Should Switzerland decline to do so, the Commission calls for the establishment of a joint court of arbitration. Any arguments over the interpretation or application of EU law would then be subject to the supreme authority of the CJEU. In other words, the EU will ultimately render Switzerland powerless in any dispute.
Furthermore, if Switzerland defies the CJEU, the Commission recommends imposing ‘compensatory measures’ – in other words, punishments – via a joint arbitration court. For example, if Switzerland refuses to adopt any given EU law, Brussels could ‘compensate’ by slapping tariffs on Swiss agricultural produce, or excluding Switzerland from research programmes like Horizon.
Make no mistake, these negotiations are once again preparing the way for the subjugation of Switzerland to foreign laws and courts. As a cherry on top of this miserable cake, Switzerland is being asked to make a ‘permanent financial contribution to social and economic cohesion in the EU’. The amount is unspecified, but it is likely to be significant....
"Human! We used to be exactly like them. Flawed. Weak. Organic. But we evolved to include the synthetic. Now we use both to attain perfection. Your goal should be the same as ours."
—The Borg."Existence as you know it is over"
—The Borg."By assimilating other races into our collective, we are bringing them closer to perfection."
—The Borg."We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile."
—The Borg.
