‘Europe is a democratic community to be defended’

Editorial published by ‘la Stampa’, 23 November 2020.

Dear Editor,
we are at a turning point in Europe. As you rightly pointed out, the battle over the rule of law is not a negotiation like any other. With Emmanuel Macron, we are defending the very identity of our Union: not a mere association of states but a true democratic community. All citizens must have the guarantee that we will always be at their side, if necessary even against their governments if they violate fundamental European values. We speak different languages, we come from different countries and different histories, we have different ideas, but there is something very deep that unites us: respect for human dignity, for freedom, for democracy. And this is the European identity, after two European civil wars, after the Shoah, after the Resistance.

Respect for the rule of law must be the fundamental condition for obtaining EU funds and the Recovery Plan. You cannot call yourself European when you receive tens of billions of euros and then turn out to be nationalist when you have to respect pluralism, solidarity, minorities or equality between men and women. No interference: we are not ‘meddling in internal affairs’. On the contrary, we are protecting the rights of everyone, starting with Poles and Hungarians.

Everyone is bound to respect these values when they join the EU. Today we are working our way out of the crisis, and we must equip ourselves with new, much more effective means, free from national vetoes, to build a political and democratic Europe. Several say that Orban and Morawiecki cannot afford to give up EU funds. Probably. But it is certain that we cannot afford to compromise downwards: it would mean denying our history and renouncing our identity and ideals. So we have to work for an agreement with 27, but we also have to be ready to move forward anyway, with those governments and peoples who share the values underpinning our Union.