The following are three articles by Ole Kreiberg posted to the home page of the European Union:
The European values
I would very much like to ask the following questions to the Commission concerning the values written in the EU constitution:
What will happen to those who criticise, disagree, deviate from or speak out against those values? Will it be like in the Soviet Union where all cricicism of the communist ideology and values, according to Soviet penal code, was regarded illegal defamation of the Soviet state? Are the EU going to be a dictatorship of values? Are these values going to be a part of totalitarian ideology?
To me those values are nothing but worthless mumbo jumbo and empty catchwords. Their true purpose is to fool the masses into believing that the EU is some kind of democracy, while the thruth is that EU is the dictatorship of a the international political and economical power elite.
I am sorry. You are not fooling me.
The Danish Constitution
The Danish constitution does not mention values, but only prescribes the practical rules of democracy. In a true democracy the voters decide which values are going to prevail. These should not be given beforehand by the ruling elite The values in the EU constitution seem political- ideological and could thus exclude other values or opposition. In a true democracy you can be critical or in opposition to everything the lawmakers are doing. No value is holy or above criticism.
However in Germany and France there are other political traditions than in Denmark. In France and Germany the attitude toward the government and the state is more authoritarian. The French people admire the state and have a weakness for "grands mots". In Denmark things work more down to earth. The Danish polical mentality is more conflict-shy and consensus seeking. I fear the political influence from Germany and France to a degree that I seriously consider to emigrate to Norway or perhaps even to the USA, if the EU constitution with it's German and French spirit and way of political thinking is not rejected by the Danish voters.
The Kalmar Union versus the European Union
The Scandinavian countries formed an union in the 14th century in order to protect the Scandinavian countries from German dominance. And what did this union lead to? To endless wars between Denmark and Sweden about whom was to be dominant. It was so traumatic for the Swedes to be ruled by a Danish Queen and later kings that they centuries after during a Swedish occupation of parts of Denmark found the remnants of Queen Margrete I's crowning dress and took it with them to Sweden as a symbol that they had now been rehabilitated from their utter humiliation. Not until the recent years have the modern Swedes agreed to deliver back this historical dress.
In Denmark and the other Nordic countries modern nationalism and democracy came together. Those who wrote the Danish democratic constitution called themselves national liberals, and they were both enthusiastic nationalists and democrats. These two things fit naturally together in Denmark. It lead to a revival of Scandinavism and all the old feud between Sweden and Denmark vanished into thin air. Today we have an ideal brotherly and close relationship between the Scandinavian countries with respect for our mutual independence an differences. No one would even dare to think about restoring something like the failed Kalmar Union. The question is now will the European Union end up like the Kalmar Union?