A wake-up call for the EU

The surge in Middle East tensions, combined with a dynamic Russian presence and growing Turkish aggression, provides a unique opportunity for the European Union to show that it will not allow itself to be blown about like a feather on the winds of others' actions. But just as circumstances demand greater unity, so does inaction constitute a direct threat to each member-state and to the Union.
On Thursday, Charles Michel, president of the European Council, declared: "We should not only observe what the others will decide for us. I want Europe to be part of the game and to be able to promote and defend its own interests." It is already late in the game: Others decide and the EU faces the consequences.
But it is one thing to have to improvise after the actions of the unpredictable leader of a superpower and another to be "played" by countries whose GDP is equal to 8 percent...