On Saturday, 4000
Berliners gathered at the Brandenburg Gate to make a political statement –
Happy Birthday, Europe! They let loose blue balloons, carried blue flags with
yellow European Union stars, and trampled a “wall” made of cardboard cartons.
Saturday was the 60th anniversary of the Rome treaty among 6 nations
which created the European Economic Union, the first step towards today’s
European Union of 28 nations.
Not long ago, such a
celebration would have been unlikely. United Europe has many problems. The economic difficulties of some
southern countries, especially Greece, required international financial
assistance. Unemployment and sluggish growth persist in many countries. Refugees
from northern Africa and the Middle East have put enormous pressure on the more
prosperous countries of western Europe.
Nationalist, so-called “populist”
politicians and parties have won new popularity and power in the last few years
by attacking the EU. The British vote to leave the EU was the heaviest blow
against European unity. Marine le Pen of the National Front in France is one of
the front-runners in the presidential
election next month, whom recent polls give about 26% among four major
candidates. Her platform is anti-immigration, anti-Muslim, and anti-EU. Geert Wilders, a Dutch
politician who hates Muslims and is against non-white immigration and the EU,
appeared on his way to winning their presidential election earlier this month.
Nationalist politicians have
recently gained power in Poland and Hungary, and are part of coalition
governments in Finland and Denmark. In the April 2016 Austrian
presidential election, the Euro-sceptical and anti-immigration Freedom
Party won the most votes in the first round.
Alternative fuer
Deutschland (AfD) was founded in 2013 as a critic of the pro-European
policies of the German government, and has gradually moved further and further
right towards opposition to immigration, homophobia, Islamophobia, and denial
of climate change. It is the only German party which talks about leaving the
EU. The AfD got 4.7% of the national vote in 2013 and 7.1% in 2014. National
support in 2016 reached 12-15%, and seemed to be heading higher.
The election of Donald Trump,
who made disparaging statements about Europe and selected advisors who have
promoted the break-up of the EU, was a turning point in European politics, but not
in the direction he favors. His apparent withdrawal of American support for a
united Europe pushed Europeans to a more vigorous defense of their
unprecedented international alliance and the values it promotes: tolerance,
human rights, fluid borders.
Just after Trump’s election,
a married couple from Frankfurt, Germany, decided with some friends to
demonstrate support for
a united Europe. In February, 600 people came to a meeting. On March 5,
there were public demonstrations in 35 cities under the name “Pulse of Europe”.
The first theme listed on their
website is “Europe must not fail.” Their method is also clear: “Let us
become louder and more visible!” That is exactly what Europeans have done
recently. The Pulse of Europe website now lists 53 German cities and 14 others,
where every Sunday a pro-Europe demonstration takes place.
The tide has turned against
the right-wing parties. The Austrian Freedom Party lost to a Green politician
in the presidential run-off in December 2016. Wilders’ support in the
Netherlands peaked and fell, and his second-place finish and lower than
expected vote totals have been cheered across Europe. Support for the AfD in
Germany has been dropping since January.
A major survey in 2015 of European
public opinion shows majority support for the EU: 71% of citizens wanted
their country to remain in the Union. Within the 28 nations of the EU, 59%
preferred more integration, 16% were satisfied with current levels, and only
24% wanted less.
A few nights ago, I saw a big
poster in the center of Berlin: “Only those who don’t value freedom can cast
doubt on Europe.” It’s part of new advertising
campaign for Berlin called “#FreiheitBerlin” or “Freedom Berlin. ”The
quotation comes from Nicol
Ljubić, a novelist with Croatian background, who lives in Berlin. Like many
people across Europe, he associates freedom with a united Europe.
Of course, everyone has some
complaint about the EU, some criticism of policies hammered out among 28
nations. But the threats to European integration, from outsiders like Trump and
insiders like Le Pen and Wilders and the AfD, have made people here in Germany
and all over Europe more willing to become louder and more visible, saying not
only “Europe must not fail,” but also “Europe is good.”
Europe
is good. Three times as many Europeans as Americans trust their national
legislatures. One-sixth as many Europeans as Americans are in jail, probably
related to the fact that one-fifth as many murders occur. Health care is
universal and Europeans live longer. According to the “World
Happiness Report”, Europeans are the happiest people in the world.
Americans do pretty well, too, ranking 14th, about the same as
Germans.
Such comparisons are not
meant to prove that Europe is better than the US. But they do show that Europe,
more and more united over the past 60 years, is not a failure, as American
conservatives often assert. United Europe has created peace and prosperity
across the continent for 60 years.
Happy Birthday, Europe!
Steve Hochstadt
Berlin
Published in the Jacksonville
Journal-Courier, March 28, 2017
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