Amy JayBee

When a former U.S. president and his foundation single out two EU democracies with free elections and multiparty systems (while soft-pedaling actual dictatorships, theocracies, and surveillance states) it is priority-setting, not neutral democracy promotion. Those priorities align with where progressive networks and EU institutions clash hardest: migration, cultural identity, and national sovereignty. This is a broader habit. “Democracy” is increasingly defined less by free elections and basic liberal protections, and more by alignment on migration levels, speech norms, identity policies, and deference to transnational bodies. When voters choose otherwise, the choice itself is treated as the problem. That inversion turns policy disagreement into a morality play, and explains why the focus stays on European holdouts rather than places where democracy is genuinely extinguished. The selectivity is revealing. 🤨