It would seem that Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn't need to do much to splinter the European Union and its allies; they're more than capable of doing it themselves.
Trapped between an increasingly vitriolic Brexit and an incoming US President who considers NATO — and probably the European Union as a whole — obsolete, the European Union is cutting a rather beleaguered figure.
In that context outgoing US vice-president Joe Biden's comment that "Putin and Russia [are] working with every tool available to them to whittle away at the edges of the European project", seems a bit precious.
After all, it was only recently that the British foreign secretary -- with his penchant for going rogue with his comments -- compared the EU's treatment of Britain to something more akin to Nazi-style "punishment beatings".
The impending gloom of a hard Brexit
Britain and the EU are heading for a major diplomatic and trade collision if the mutterings on both sides of the Channel are anything to go by.
Brexit has also widened splits within Europe, with German chancellor Angela Merkel seemingly softening her stance towards Britain, and French president Francois Hollande digging in his heels with his "there must be a threat, there must be a risk, there must be a price" statement.
NATO or bust?
US President-Elect Donald Trump's statements on NATO and its redundancy on the modern geopolitical stage have also done little for the European project.
So much so that French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has suggested that maybe what Europe needs is an independent defense force (a bad idea in theory, and a worse one in reality). Who will bear the cost of this IDF? Germany, and the current political climate in Europe's powerhouse, is certainly not going to. France? Unlikely.
When all else fails...blame Putin!
Blaming Putin and Russia for all Europe's ills is a political cop-out. Brexit was born of a canny Leave campaign that quickly realised facts mattered far less than perception.
Boris Johnson has shot his mouth off far too many times (was he forced to do it by Putin?), and the rise of the right has come more from anger directed against European governments and immigration policies, rather than anything Russia trumped up.
Has Russia weighed in with its own version of the truth? Yes. Has America done so too? Absolutely. So let's call a spade a spade here: While Russia will not shed a single tear for the scuttling of the European project, it is also not the only bogeyman under the bed.
In fact, come January 21, the man in the White House will have far more sway over how NATO and the EU shapes up. His relationship with Britain (in the teeth of a hard Brexit) and Putin will be key definers of an intrinsic realignment of allegiances on the continent.
And if you think: Surely Britain won't sell out its European allies? Ask yourself...what would Boris do, and you'll have your answer.
