Anything that happens in Praha bears traces of Franz Kafka. Not just because Kafka is from the Czech Republic but rather because I, for one, have found that all that happens in countries that once gave life to unions such as Cominform, Comecon and the Warsaw Pact have Kafkaesque attributes, such as the good old Czechoslovakia, Poland, Ukraine and Belarus but even Prussia (may it rest in peace) and the Soviet Union (which cannot rest peacefully even after its death).
Dictionaries define "Kafkaesque" as an adjective used to describe "bizarre and impersonal administrative situations where the individual feels powerless to understand or control what is happening." How else could one define the situation in Kafka’s final novel "The Castle" when the protagonist, known simply as "K," finds himself in a corridor leading to rooms with open roofs in the middle of the night to be interrogated by the secretary of a gentleman from the castle? The secretary tells K to wait his turn, but he himself goes to sleep.
Kafka's French equivalent Emmanuel Macron, or "Mr. M," calls for political and strategic discussions about the future of Europe as the first major military conflict threatens to spread across the continent but then does not invite the warring parties to the first summit of his brainchild: the European Political Community (EPC). Yes, the French prime minister did invite Ukraine but I am talking about the parties of the proxy war being fought in the country: the United States and the Russian Federation.
It is Kafkaesque, indeed: an existential unrealism, a sense of detachment from reality. Here is a nation (Russia), citing Ukraine’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, which were designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk special status within the country, sending armed forces to bombard civilians, hospitals, nurseries and schools while another nation (the U.S.) pushes Kyiv to accept the protocols brokered by Germany and France to buy time while helping them establish powerful armed forces. Yes, the Ukrainians chant war cries like "War until the last Ukrainian," but really, it comes down to every last U.S. dollar and European mercenary. Mr. Macron started the inaugural meeting of his brainchild with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy’s speech delivered from Kyiv in which he once again pressed hard for accelerated membership in NATO and the European Union, but this plea is not realistic. Neither the European members of NATO nor the EU itself wants to nurse the crying Ukrainian baby. The situation is truly nightmarishly bizarre and illogical. If this is not the textbook definition of a Kafkaesque situation, I cannot imagine what is.
One of the only "non-Kafkaesque" developments in Europe in general and Ukraine in particular, was the uncomplicated grain corridor opened through the simple efforts of Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The prisoner-of-war exchange agreement brokered between Ukraine and Russia by President Erdoğan was also a non-Kafkaesque development in the bizarre 231 days since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Do Macron and his French-speaking eurocrats in Brussels really want peace in Europe? If yes, then why didn’t the largest gathering of Europeans have Russia in session? Twenty-seven EU members and those aspiring to be members in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, as well as the only country that left the EU, Britain, were extended an invitation. Türkiye was also among the invited countries despite the contrary efforts of Greece and the Greek Cypriots. This is most likely because Greece and the Greek Cypriots have been spoiled by the joint amphibious exercises with the French navy. For some strange reason, the French navy wants to reinforce its interoperability with the Greek navy. It says they "desire to consolidate their cooperation in terms of defense and security by enforcing freedom of navigation and international law." Perhaps, in another Kafkaesque situation, if they fight against the Russian forces in the Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea, they need that consolidation. But the Greeks must first stop the flow of Russian oil to Europe via waters off Greece. According to a Nikkei analysis, in the last six months, 41 vessels made ship-to-ship transfers of oil off the coast of Greece with tankers that left Russia and later arrived at European ports. However, since France is one of the beneficiaries of this illegal Greek transportation, the French navy should provide cover to the Greek vessels.
The inaugural EPC summit at Prague Castle kicked off with an opening ceremony and then a series of meetings where leaders discussed the key challenges Europe faces; security, energy, climate change, the dire economic situation and migration. But what were the end results?
If it was just to show support for Ukraine without actually committing to granting it EU and NATO membership, then why was President Zelenskyy’s speech so dreary? If it was to tell Russia that Europeans wouldn’t tolerate another assault on another European country, then why does Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova make fun of the Europeans, asking them to decide whether they want the Ukraine conflict to be resolved diplomatically or in a violent manner?
The only good thing about the summit was the several sideline meetings Erdoğan had. In fact, in a trilateral meeting, Erdoğan talked to Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen. Erdoğan also had closed-door meetings with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Bulgarian President Rumen Radev. He also had brief conversations with several leaders on the sidelines of the summit.
The summit also contributed to Mr. M’s ego, who said that what Europe needed was "a new space for political and security cooperation, cooperation in the energy sector, in transport, investments, infrastructures, the free movement of persons and in particular of our youth." The summit may or may not have provided that space for Europe, but it definitely creates ample space for his ego.
I also hope that presidents, prime ministers and their staff found the opportunity to get new versions of Kafka’s old books. The publisher had cleansed novelist Max Brod’s editing from Kafka’s original manuscript. Brod had seized the opportunity and finished the unfinished Kafka novels and published them. Macron meanwhile has created his own union of Europeans on top of NATO and the EU, which is Kafkaesque indeed!