EU's core values are crumbling

In Athens, a left-wing election winner thinks he can blackmail the rest of Europe with his fiscal demands. In Budapest, a right-wing head of government shows his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. And a conservative UK prime minister continues to expand the English Channel.

These three people - Alexis Tsipras, Viktor Orban and David Cameron - all stand for the same thing: Dismissing very important parts of a European fundamental consensus. It's not yet clear yet where this development is headed, but one thing is clear: It will be dramatic.

European give-and-take

But first things first: Up to now, it was understood that the EU would help a country in debt if that said country made sure to get its budget in order and implements reforms to help spur its economy. Countries that have complied have paid a high price in terms of high unemployment rates and cuts in social services. Yet they went for it - by choice.

No one was forced to go this way. But they chose this option because they knew it was the only way out of their dire times and that it would help them regain a bit of independence.

And other countries were only prepared to chip in if there were some sort of constraints.

There have been many complaints, demonstrations, strikes and hefty debates about this approach. But at the core, this economic consensus remained. Otherwise, the EU's unity would have been crushed during the euro crisis.

If Tsipras thinks he can have everything at once - the support of the other Europeans without any service in return - he leaves common ground. By now, economically speaking, the eurozone could cope with Greece leaving the group. However, politically speaking, this would spell disaster. It would mean that Europe gives way to its own collapse.

By now, copycats in other countries have emerged - and they feed their voters unrealistic hopes of a shortcut of the difficult path to recovery. And if any one of these governments gets away with that, every form of solidarity would come to an end.

Putin pushes for EU divide

The previous consensus in dealing with Russia is at risk as well. So far, it was understood that even if sanctions didn't deter Putin from his imperialistic politics and even if they would also harm EU member states economically, sanctions were important as a sign that Europe doesn't simply accept a violent shift of borders. It's interesting to note that both Tsipras in Greece as well as Orban in Hungary say the EU should show more understanding for Moscow.

Orban at least - but it's not just him - has openly shown sympathy for Putin's political style: How Putin deals with the opposition, with media, with homosexuals or with refugees certainly has an invigorating effect on some EU politicians. This in turn animates Putin to actively push to split the EU - because a divided EU bloc has little it can counter with.

What's next after one country leaves the bloc?

And then there's the UK. It challenges the European give-and-take approach as a whole. Even though some demands from London might be justified - for instance to rethink the distribution of portfolios within the EU or to pursue a more liberal economic policy - Cameron and his fellow party members are so pushy that people can only reject their bids if they want to uphold their self-respect.

The parties have reached a deadlock. By now, it is not even considered impossible anymore that the UK could ultimately leave the EU after it holds a promised referendum.

This by itself would spell disaster. But that's also when all hell could break lose in the rest of the EU. Other countries could immediately follow the British lead or demand so many exceptions specifically tailored to their needs in order to remain in the union that there is not much of a common ground left.

Member states can't do it alone

Consensus by itself is not a value. There are forced, comfortable and indifferent versions of it which means it is not a real consensus. But when Europeans contend for consensus, and agree on it in the end and then put it to use for a common goal, then it's incredibly valuable. Every single EU member state can't protect its interests on its own, but only in cooperation with other members. That's true for big countries, such as Germany and the UK, as well as for smaller ones, like Greece and Hungary. But there needs to be common ground. Those who question it should come forward and propose something better.