[Verse 1] Iceland steps into the European hall A small volcanic island answering the call The EU holds its breath and dares to whisper low Could this be the enlargement that finally steals the show? They call it a pellucid moment — clear and clean and bright A window where the future makes its meaning plain to sight While over in Moldova, shadows cut the grain Putin's architects are tunneling beneath the democratic plain They campaigned through the static, seeded doubt like rust Trying to capsize a westward government's fragile trust [Chorus] Europe reads the headlines, nothing quite is calm One hand plants an olive branch, the other holds a qualm NATO watching eastward as the Russian plotting grows Fortify the coalition — that's the word that goes The continent is calculating, cautious, not naïve Counting what it's willing to defend and to believe [Verse 2] Across the Atlantic, Washington draws a line The EU's green reporting rules are crossing someone's spine America's threatening tariffs if the paperwork stays wide Trade dressed up as ecology — a diplomatic tide Canada steps forward, says we'll walk beside Telecom coalition, EU welcomed as allied Small gestures in a larger game of who will share the wire When the infrastructure question gets increasingly dire [Verse 3] The institutions tally up the cost of looking away Democratic backsliding doesn't happen in a day It creeps along the margins, hollows out the core Until the ballot box means something slightly less than before But Brussels keeps its ledger, marks the losses and the gains Enlargement is the carrot and accountability remains From Reykjavik to Chisinau the question echoes long How do you hold a continent together, fractured but still strong? [Bridge] Azerbaijan earns serious marks in red Fundamental freedoms — seriously misled The annual report won't soften what it found Serious problems etched like fault lines in the ground Transparency is tested where the playing field tilts hard Uneven competition leaves democracy scarred [Chorus] Europe reads the headlines, nothing quite is calm One hand plants an olive branch, the other holds a qualm NATO watching eastward as the Russian plotting grows Fortify the coalition — that's the word that goes The continent is calculating, cautious, not naïve Counting what it's willing to defend and to believe [Outro] Iceland, Moldova, telecoms, the green rule fight August sixteenth, twenty twenty-six — hold the picture tight Europe never sits still long — the headlines prove it right [Chorus] Europe reads the headlines, nothing quite is calm One hand plants an olive branch, the other holds a qualm NATO watching eastward as the Russian plotting grows Fortify the coalition — that's the word that goes The continent is calculating, cautious, not naïve Counting what it's willing to defend and to believe
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