Kennedy also assumes that the EU will retain a cohesive foreign policy, “stabilising a historically turbulent continent and further isolating Russia”. But there is no promise that the individual foreign policies of member states will comport with that wish: on 30 September, Slovakia will hold elections and its populist candidate, Robert Fico, who has criticised Nato and is demanding peace negotiations in Ukraine, may well win; the far-right Alternative for Germany – a party that does not hide its Kremlin sympathies – has risen to second place in the polls, and even diehard Ukraine supporters such as Poland are starting to show compassion fatigue. The EU’s chronic inability to “speak with one voice” will probably imperil its status as what Kennedy calls a “slightly-less-than-great power”, let alone allow it to become a great one.
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