Politics

If Europe remembers the Austro-Hungarian Empire

Caroline de Gruyter is an esteemed Dutch journalist who lives in Vienna after having traveled half the world. For a few years now, his reflections on the similarities between the European Union and the Habsburg empire have gained a certain fame, and are among the recommended readings for 2025 by the Institut Montaigne, the prestigious French think tank.

De Gruyter’s is not a simple amarcord, and under his careful lens end up the political, social and cultural structures that characterize both the EU and the defunct Austria-Hungary. The parallel between the modern Union and the double-headed eagle empire is obviously not new, and often lends itself to pessimistic conclusions about the fate of the former.

The Empire, which lasted over six centuries, it was a mosaic of different nations and cultures, just like the current EU. Both systems faced internal tensions and demands for autonomy from the various peoples represented within them. Despite a couple of heartaches – see Brexit, which remains the proverbial exception that proves the rule – the member states have remained under the umbrella of the Union. Even more so since Brussels, like the Habsburg empire, resorts to constant compromises and partial solutions. Emperor Franz Joseph, for example, had to accept the 1867 Compromise with Hungary after a series of military defeats and internal political failures. Even within the EU, decisions often require long negotiations between the member states on the most disparate matters.

The similarities, which are therefore not lacking, are counterbalanced by profound differences. The Empire was, precisely, an empire. The hierarchies within it were quite clear, starting from the ruling house, the Catholic Habsburgs. On the other hand, the balance in Brussels turns out to be rather unstable, with continuous shifts of power between the Council and the Commission and, needless to say, between the main major member states.

Depending on the phase, the barometer shows an increase in the influence of Berlin, Paris, Rome and Madrid, except for sudden drops close to political crises or electoral cycles in the various countries. The Habsburg Empire, also due to its internal hierarchies, had its own external subjectivity.

The EU also has it, but partial, asymmetrical. For example, on some important matters, such as trade policy and competition, Brussels has its say. Even during the Covid crisis, the Commission reacted decisively, and is now awaiting the test of rearmament.

On numerous other fronts, however, Brussels expresses itself intermittently. Take the Estonian Kaja Kallas, the pugnacious EU High Commissioner. She matters, indeed, but in a different way than a Foreign Minister of yesterday and today. Although she appears resolute in the face of the assertiveness of Russia and China, Kallas has to deal with the fluctuating moods of individual member states. Added to these is the open hostility of those who cultivate a close relationship with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin: Victor Orbán in Hungary, Robert Fico in Slovakia. For this reason, an analogy with Klemens von Metternich, long head of Habsburg imperial diplomacy, is almost impossible.

The State Chancellor of the Empire and his diplomatic strategies were a great passion of Henry Kissinger, the famous American Secretary of State. Kissinger, not surprisingly, was the same one who sarcastically asked what telephone number to dial in order to speak to the EU. A bit like Putin, who prides himself on being at war with NATO and certainly not with Brussels – like: tell me who your enemy is and I’ll tell you who you are.

It must be said that Metternich, elevated by the Habsburgs to the rank of prince (before he was a count and before that a baron), could do and undo because his power descended directly from the ruling house. Even in his time, of course, there were areas of the Empire that claimed autonomy, but did not have their own foreign diplomacy. For Metternich, the risk of being proven wrong with an official note (or with a tweet) was therefore minimal. This isn’t the case for Kallas, but the lady certainly doesn’t lack determination. n

* Strategic scenario expert, founder of Policy Sonar

© all rights reserved