The Economist - USA (2022-01-15)

The Economist January 15th 2022 Europe 43

A

fter russiansoldiersinvadedtheir

countryin2014,manyUkrainians

beganfavouringWesternholidaysover

onesassociatedwithRussia.Women’s

Day,anoriginallysocialistholidaythat

tookholdinSoviettimes,hasfaded,

whiletheAmerican-madeMother’sDay

isinvogue.Asthesnowpiledupin

ChristmasmarketsinDecember,sodid

theevidencethatSantaClauswasdis-

placingtheSoviet-eraDedMoroz(“Father

Frost”)asthecountry’spre-eminent

beardedgift-bearer.Weightiestofallis

thedebateoverwhentocelebrateChrist-

masitself.EpiphaniusI, theheadof

Ukraine’sOrthodoxChurch,sayshe

expectshiscongregantswillfavour

switchingfromJanuary7thtoDecember

25thwithina decade.

Whyisthereanissuewiththedateof

UkrainianOrthodoxChristmas?Itbegan

withRussianOrthodoxy’sattachmentto

the2,000-year-oldJuliancalendar,

whichobservestoomanyleapyears.The

Russianchurchneveradoptedthecalen-

dardevisedin 1582 byPopeGregoryXIII,

whichskipsthreeleapyearseveryfour

centuries.WhentheSovietstatewent

Gregorianin1918,theRussianchurchdid

not.TheJuliancalendarnowruns 13 days

behind,soChristmasfallsonJanuary

7th—through2099;in2100,whenthe

worldnextomitsa leapyear,it willmove

toJanuary8th.Butin 2019 Ukraine’s

OrthodoxChurchsealeditsautonomy

fromtheMoscowPatriarchate.Itcan

nowdecidewhentojingleitsbells.

OldCalendaristsarguethatswitching

wouldmuckuptheformulaforcalculat-

ingEaster,violatingcanonicaltexts.But

itcanbedone,asshownbyOrthodox

churchesinGreece,RomaniaandAlba-

nia,whichusetheLatinChristmasdate.

TheUkrainianstatedeclaredDecember

25tha publicholidayin2017,ostensibly

forthesakeofthecountry’sCatholics.

ButpushingtoofastrisksdividingUkrai-

niansociety,splittingthechurchor

pushingold-fashionedbelieversback

towardsMoscow.

Inseculartermstheideahasa cold

logic.Since 2014 Ukrainehasunravelled

itseconomyfromRussia’stoknitit

togetherwiththeeu’s.Itmakessensefor

countriestoaligntheirrhythmsofwork

andrestwiththeirclosestforeigntrad-

ingpartners.ThatiswhatSaudiArabia

didin 2013 whenit becamethelastIs-

lamiccountrytoditchThursday-Friday

weekends.Religionsdonotneedtobe

logical.Butif Ukrainedoesbreakwithits

cherishedhabit,markingChristmasona

differentdaywouldemphasisethatits

divorcefromRussiaistrulyfinal.

ChristmasinUkraine

Swimmingwith the Yuletide

K YIV

ThegeopoliticsofDecember25th

Adventofa newcalendar

ly disillusioned by his tax cuts for the rich,
but since the pandemic they have grown
less hostile, says Chloé Morin, a former So-
cialist adviser now at the Fondation Jean-
Jaurès, a think-tank: “The weakness of the
left means that voters on the centre-left are
thinking that they might as well vote Mac-
ron to keep out the right and the far right.”
“I’m not giving up,” insists Ms Hidalgo,
who argues that polls understate support
on the left. She blames Mr Macron for de-
stabilising the party system. But some
even within the Socialist Party think that
the solution to their troubles lies with yet
another potential candidate: Christiane
Taubira, a popular former justice minister
from French Guiana who is something of

an icon on the left. She says she will run for

the presidency if she wins the “citizens’

primary”. Unless some of the others then

step aside, however, Ms Taubira’s candida-

cy will only fragment the vote further.

As candidates squabble over how to run

for office, they are failing to tell the public

what they would do if they win it. Yet

France needs to grapple with big policy is-

sues. These include how to integrate mi-

norities, curb inequality and protect the

poor from the burdens of the green transi-

tion, at a time when public spending has

reached an exceptional 62% of gdp, the

highest level in the eu. If the left has a fu-

ture in France, this year’s candidates are

doing a good job of disguising it. n

The Netherlands

Unclogging Europe

O

rdinarily, when the eu favours a

flood of collective spending, the Dutch

put their collective finger in the dyke. In

2020 the Netherlands rallied a group of

small, rich countries (the “frugal four”) to

oppose the eu’s covid recovery fund. They

eventually gave in, but not before Wopke

Hoekstra, the then finance minister, in-

sulted southern Europeans for lacking

budget discipline. This week a new Dutch

government took office. It comprises the

same parties as the previous one, yet its

stance on the euis far more relaxed.

Mark Rutte, the Liberal prime minister,

is back for a fourth term, but has turned

boosterish on Europe. Just as important is

the new finance minister, Sigrid Kaag of

the centre-left, pro-eu d66 party. Finance

is the most powerful ministry, and has

largely run the Netherlands’ eu policy

since the euro crisis of 2010-12. Mr Hoeks-

tra, a Christian Democrat, has been shunt-

ed to foreign minister. This may seem an

odd fit, but Mr Hoekstra incarnates an old

adage about the country’s diplomacy: “I am

Dutch, so I may be blunt.”

Finance ministers are often popular in

the Netherlands. Winning the post is testa-

ment to Ms Kaag’s bargaining skills, honed

as a undiplomat in the Middle East. The

coalition negotiations lasted nine excruci-

ating months. Striking a deal required the

parties to trade favours, leading to some

rather un-Dutch plans for big spending.

They include a climate fund of €35bn

($40bn) through 2030 and reimbursing

95% of child-care costs up to the age of 12.

Government debt will rise past the eu’s no-

tional limit of 60% of gdp.

Dutch flexibility would be welcome in

Brussels, where France and Italy want to

loosen the budget rules permanently. The

new government may go along, with con-

ditions. It also backs letting the euraise

more of its own taxes, including a carbon

tariff on imports. Instead of clubbing with

small thrifty states, it will work with the

eu’s powerhouses, France and Germany.

The Netherlands’ tone has changed, but

its interests have not. As a country that

trades a lot and has a big financial sector, it

felt closer to Britain than to France until

Brexit. It remains less statist than most eu

members. “We will continue to be a liberal

outpost in Europe,” says Hans Vijlbrief, a

d66 minister who has worked at the fi-

nance ministry and in Brussels. But they

may be less blunt about it. n

A MSTERDAM

A Dutch government that can say yes