BERLIN (Sputnik) — In an interview published earlier on Monday, Gauck told the Welt newspaper that the European integration had been accelerating so fast that not all of the EU citizens could keep up with the pace, suggesting that the bloc should consider taking a pause to think what goal it wants to achieve and at what speed.
"Mr. Gauck's idea is good, but probably it comes too late. Brussels should have taken a break 20 years ago. It is hard [to] imagine that the supporter of a European central state will stop now," Glaser said.
"They [the European Union] won't stop before they build up their giant superstate," Glaser warned.
He added that the countries which are not members of the bloc, but are striving towards the membership, should be thankful for not belonging to an "ever-growing superstate."
"Unfortunately they [non-EU members] don't understand our [EU-members'] criticism, because all they think of is getting subsidies from Brussels. But once they fall into that trap, these countries will realize, that being independent is more important than some millions of (soon worthless) Euros," Glaser noted.
The European Union saw a rise in euroscepticism in the past months, after the United Kingdom voted in a nationwide referendum to leave the bloc. Over this period, eurosceptic parties such as the AfD and France’s National Front, have been making political gains. During the September state parliamentary election in Berlin, the AfD won 25 seats, becoming the fifth in popularity among voters.
At the same time, according to the latest polls, Le Pen, the National Front’s presidential candidate, has good chances to become the next French president. According to an October poll by Ifop, Le Pen is expected to advance to the second round of presidential elections, securing from 26 percent to 30 percent in the first round.
