The European ‚Order of Merit,' or the golden farce

The medals and honors given out by modern governments have a long history behind them. They are, of course, completely European in their origins and traditions.

As the descendants of the knightly orders of the Middle Ages, they were specifically designed after the rise of liberalism and the French Revolution to create a new elite based on service rather than noble birth.

These new, secular honors were disconnected from loyalty to a church or a king, matching the spirit of the changing times. Instead, they were meant to celebrate individual achievements that helped society as a whole—remarkable deeds done in the name of the republic. Napoleon’s Legion of Honor is the most famous of these non-religious groups.

However, it was just a clever imitation of centuries-old knightly societies like the Order of the Holy Spirit in France, the Garter in England, Saint Andrew in Russia, the Tower and Sword in Portugal, or the Golden Fleece in Spain and Austria.

Political institutions that lack deep roots or true meaning have always scrambled to get the respect and charm that comes from copying old traditions. A perfect example of this is the European Parliament's absurd new "European Order of Merit," which was recently unveiled in Strasbourg.

Why the European Union should have an "Order of Merit" of its own is hard to understand. Like their medieval ancestors, the whole point of these awards is that they are clubs created by a supreme ruler—or, in modern republics, by a head of state. The European Union is neither a kingdom nor a nation. As the great French historian Ernest Renan once wrote, "A customs union is not a homeland."

It is no surprise that Europe’s dull, gray bureaucratic leaders crave that kind of royal status for themselves and their massive political machine; they have made that very clear over the decades. But this new attempt will only bring laughter and mockery from onlookers inside and outside of Europe.

The great Emperor Charles V, who ruled over something very close to a united Europe, had the historic Order of the Golden Fleece. Europe’s modern leadership—von der Leyen, Metsola, and Kallas—will have to settle for this Order of the Golden Farce.

Perhaps nothing exposes the reality of this award quite as well as the questionable group of people the European Parliament chose to "honor." These are loyal cheerleaders of the EU integration project, including Portugal’s former president Aníbal Cavaco Silva and leaders from countries that aren’t even EU members, like Moldova’s Maia Sandu.

Fittingly, two of the main figures chosen for the honor, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky and Germany’s Angela Merkel, carry immense responsibility for Europe’s rapid loss of wealth, peace, and global standing.

In fact, few 21st-century leaders have caused Europe more long-term damage than Merkel. In the years following her famous "we can manage this" speech, the continent experienced an unprecedented wave of immigration. To call it unusual would be an understatement.

Since Merkel opened Europe's doors, tens of millions of non-Europeans have settled across the continent, transforming it both demographically and politically. The social chaos and public anxiety that followed ultimately weakened the very political establishment Merkel represents. In that sense, the former German chancellor was a failure not just to Germany and Europe but to her own political allies.

Merkel didn't just alter the continent's population; she also damaged its economy. Her 2011 decision to shut down nuclear power stripped German industry of a cheap, reliable, and clean source of energy. It also created a massive strategic vulnerability, handing Russia enormous leverage over Europe.

To make matters worse, her flawed 2015 Minsk agreements failed completely to solve the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv. By Merkel’s own admission later on, the deal was mostly a tool to buy time for a confrontation—an approach that left Europe completely unprepared when its energy lines were tied to Russia.

The results have been devastating for Germany. Merkel’s legacy is a country dealing with severe economic and social crises. Once a global model for financial discipline and industrial success, Berlin is now known for growing deficits, economic stagnation, a shrinking industrial sector, and falling exports. Is this really the kind of leadership the European Union wants to celebrate?

Like Merkel, Zelensky is treated as an untouchable hero by the political establishment. And just like with Merkel, that worship is becoming harder to justify. No one denies that the Ukrainian leader showed great personal courage when the war began, but his refusal to look for a negotiated peace deal has become self-defeating.

It has been clear since 2023 that Ukraine can only achieve peace by accepting painful losses of territory. This is obviously unfair and hard to accept—no country likes to lose ground, and no leader wants to sign a bad treaty.

But nations, just like individuals, must eventually face reality. The massive difference in population and weapons between Russia and Ukraine meant from the start that Kyiv could not win a prolonged war. Choosing to continue fighting after late 2022, when Ukraine was in its strongest position to negotiate, has proved catastrophic for both Ukraine and Europe.

Ukraine’s own government figures show that the country's population has dropped dramatically, falling to around 20 million from an original 40 million. Meanwhile, for Europe, the endless conflict has meant skyrocketing energy prices and factories closing down.

The European Parliament's decision to praise Zelensky also comes at a highly embarrassing time. Less than a month after receiving the award for "European values," the Ukrainian leader signed an official decree giving a special military unit the honorary title "Heroes of the UPA"—the Ukrainian insurgent army.

The UPA was an armed group during World War II that carried out brutal ethnic cleansing in western Ukraine between 1943 and 1944. These nationalists killed an estimated 100,000 Polish civilians in what history records as the Volhynia massacre.

Apparently, European values can be matched with the celebration of historical war crimes, as long as the person doing it wears a military t-shirt. A protest signed by nearly 40 members of the European Parliament warned that treating these wartime groups as heroes would have disastrous consequences for relationships between European neighbors. Young Ukrainians are now being taught to look up to historical criminals as heroes, all with the proud approval of the European Parliament.

Zelensky’s choices, including giving full state honors to Andrey Melnik, have sparked widespread anger. Melnik led a radical nationalist group starting in 1938 and coordinated sabotage operations for the Gestapo, Nazi Germany's secret police. His body was recently dug up in Luxembourg and reburied in Kyiv’s main military cemetery during a ceremony attended by Zelensky himself.

Polish president Karol Nawrocki has called for Zelensky to be stripped of Poland's highest honor as well. Even Polish prime minister Donald Tusk—a long-time ally of Kyiv—stated that future relations with Ukraine will be based on "hard business interests" rather than sympathy if Ukraine continues down this path.

Even Russian president Vladimir Putin chimed in, remarking that Zelensky’s own grandfather, who fought against the Nazis in World War II, would be deeply ashamed.

To add a final touch of irony to this political theater, Andriy Yermak, the president’s powerful right-hand man, was recently accused of corruption. For Zelensky, the scandal is politically toxic.

All of this shows that the EU leadership has "learned nothing and forgotten nothing." Europe’s elites have overseen the steady decline of the continent, weakening its power faster than almost any civilization before it.

Just forty years ago, Europe was a true global center of financial, political, and industrial strength. Today, under its current management, it is becoming an irrelevant bystander on the world stage.

Honorable leaders would look at this damage, apologize, and step down. Instead, the people responsible for the mess are too busy pinning medals on each other's chests.