EU in search of leadership

Europe urgently needs leadership. It has leaders but they cannot pull the European Union in the direction of progress. Italy's Giorgia Meloni can't do it, nor can various leaders in the north who want to push events to the extremes vis-a-vis Russia. 

Europe's leadership, traditionally and reasonably, comes from Paris and Berlin. In France, we have a dynamic president with lots of bold ideas on what needs to change. The dogma of strategic autonomy, for example, is very important and should have already been a part of Europe's way forward. But Emmanuel Macron has lost control of domestic developments in France and, as a result, his international standing. All the big ideas and statements he makes seem almost comical when set against the extreme polarization and lack of consensus in his own country - with Marine Le Pen just waiting to pounce.

In Germany, meanwhile, we...