美国国家公共电台 NPR European Elections Will Be A Test For Nationalist Parties Hoping To Remake The EU

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Some 400 million people in 28 countries are eligible¹ to vote in this week's elections for the European Union Parliament, the only popularly elected EU institution. Most countries vote tomorrow. As NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports, the Europe-wide result will be a critical test of strength for nationalist parties that want to remake the EU.

(SOUNDBITE OF TRUMPETS²)

SYLVIA POGGIOLI, BYLINE³: This month in Florence, trumpets welcomed politicians and academics to discuss the state of Europe's union. The musicians' Renaissance⁴ costumes evoked⁵ Europe's past. Center-left politician Frans Timmermans of the Netherlands stressed the urgency of the current moment and what's at stake in these elections.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

FRANS TIMMERMANS: If we screw this up, none of us in this room can look our children in the eye anymore. If we screw this up, we screw it up for generations.

POGGIOLI: Timmermans is one of the mainstream⁶ candidates who's hoping the incoming European Parliament will make him president of the EU executive body, the European Commission. He's already a vice⁷ president part of the EU establishment in Brussels. And he's worried.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TIMMERMANS: I believe this is the first time since the beginning of European integration⁸ that this European Union could actually break apart. This is no longer a nightmare or a bad dream. It is a potential reality.

POGGIOLI: Timmermans' nightmare scenario⁹ is not the prospect¹⁰ of the other member states following Britain and voting to leave the EU. Negotiating Brexit has been so chaotic¹¹, leaving doesn't seem like such a good idea anymore. Instead, the anti-immigrant nationalist parties who think Brussels wields¹² too much power are running for seats in the European Parliament. From there, they would try to water down the EU's federal powers over individual nation states. Or as they would put it, they will try to reclaim¹³ sovereignty for their peoples.

CAIO GIULIO CESARE MUSSOLINI: If these populist and sovereignist movements are rising, it means that there is something wrong in this Europe. And we will try to do our best to change this European Union from inside.

POGGIOLI: That's Italy's Caio Giulio Cesare Mussolini. He's the great-grandson of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and unapologetic about the legacy¹⁴ of fascism. He's running for a seat in the EU Parliament from the small hard-right Brothers of Italy Party. The campaign to remake the EU has a big booster from across the Atlantic - Donald Trump's former strategic adviser¹⁵, Steve Bannon, who has been spending a lot of time in Europe advising various parties. Bannon says a populist victory across Europe would put an end to closer economic and political integration and restore the continent closer to where it was before the EU was founded in the 1950s.

STEVE BANNON: And that is a Europe of Nations - discussions on immigration and some of these basic hot-button issues. The 30,000 pages of regulation that the EU has, I think's going to start being cut in half, I think you'll start to see deregulation, and I think that over time you're going to see more changes of power coming back to the individual nation states.

POGGIOLI: Bannon is advising Matteo Salvini, Italy's populist interior minister. He's also advising Marine¹⁶ Le Pen, leader of France's populist National Rally movement and Hungary's autocratic Prime Minister Viktor Orban. They've all made curbing¹⁷ immigration into Europe, especially from the Muslim world, a central platform plank¹⁸. To promote such policies, Bannon is setting up an academy for Judeo-Christian Values at an old monastery¹⁹ outside Rome. When he was in Italy recently, he was confident.

BANNON: The momentum²⁰ is on the side of the sovereignty movement. The momentum is on the side of the nationalist movement. The momentum is on the side of the populist movement.

POGGIOLI: Polls do project that after this week's elections, populists will more than double their seats in the EU Parliament from five to more than 14% - not enough to veto legislation but sufficient to weaken legislative²¹ control of the pro-EU center-right and center-left parties. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Florence.

1 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

2 trumpets   

喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花

参考例句：

• A wreath was laid on the monument to a fanfare of trumpets. 在响亮的号角声中花圈被献在纪念碑前。
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King. 嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

5 evoked   

[医]诱发的

参考例句：

• The music evoked memories of her youth. 这乐曲勾起了她对青年时代的回忆。
• Her face, though sad, still evoked a feeling of serenity. 她的脸色虽然悲伤，但仍使人感觉安详。

6 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

9 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

10 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

11 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

12 wields   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的第三人称单数 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• She wields enormous power within the party. 她操纵着党内大权。
• He remains chairman, but wields little power at the company. 他还是主席，但在公司没有什么实权了。

13 reclaim   

v.要求归还，收回；开垦

参考例句：

• I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
• You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时，必须出示这张票子。

14 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

15 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

16 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

17 curbing   

n.边石，边石的材料v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Progress has been made in curbing inflation. 在控制通货膨胀方面已取得了进展。
• A range of policies have been introduced aimed at curbing inflation. 为了抑制通货膨胀实施了一系列的政策。

18 plank   

n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目

参考例句：

• The plank was set against the wall.木板靠着墙壁。
• They intend to win the next election on the plank of developing trade.他们想以发展贸易的纲领来赢得下次选举。

19 monastery   

n.修道院，僧院，寺院

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• She was appointed the superior of the monastery two years ago.两年前她被任命为这个修道院的院长。

20 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

21 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。