With terrorism raging in Europe, Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary came out and publicly stated that the anti-terrorism proposals of Donald Trump make him the better option for Europe and Hungary. More and more people I talk to in Europe are silently in Trump’s corner. The more intense the attacks, the stronger their support grows for Trump.

Meanwhile, Eastern European countries are openly criticizing the European Commission quite bluntly. They are warning that the EU has learned nothing from the exit of Britain. They are now demanding reform and that local parliaments should have more say in the direction of their countries. Hungary also is now calling for a radical change of refugee policy in the EU. We are witnessing the fragmentation of Europe. The refugee issue has been the defining moment. The complete failure of Merkel to have consulted other members demonstrates that one person can seriously impact all of Europe and that defeats the federalist mode.

The European banking crisis is spreading rapidly. There are now concerns in Italy and in Portugal as well. The ECB cannot even understand why people would not want to keep their money in banks with negative rates. They are simply incapable of managing the economy. The ECB is bringing Europe to the brink of a widespread banking collapse. Once this crisis becomes a contagion, there will be no stopping it.

Low rates will NOT encourage borrowing when banks have too much bad debt to begin with. The negative rates are sending savers to hoard cash outside of banks. It is amazing, but the ECB is in complete denial and unable to see that it must reverse its policy to prevent disaster.