Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
My home country is the tiny Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in the heart of the European Union. Created a neutral buffer state between France and Germany at the Vienna Congress in 1814 it has survived as an independent nation, in spite of many dangerous moments, questioning it’s existence.During World War I the country was not a member of the triple entente, it was occupied by German troops, in spite of being neutral, so was it in WWII by the Nazis, who enrolled by force all the Luxembourgers into the German Army. Our liberation by the American troops during the battle of the Bulge is not forgotten, we know what we owe to American veterans. Today we are a member of the Security Council of the UN, our former Prime Minister Jean Claude Juncker has been nominated future President of the European Commission. As a small nation we share responsibilities for peace in the World. Actually 45% of the resident population are non Luxembourgers, coming from a hundred of different nationalities, living together in respect of each other’s culture.
Excellencies,
it is not my task to speak about my country but to draw some guidelines from a European point of view concerning peace among nations.Nations, are sometimes the result of a deal between winners and losers of armed conflicts. Had borders been drawn along ethnic and cultural principles, the map of the European continent would be different. In this respect the founding of the European Union was a unique act of forgiveness and peaceful outcome of armed conflicts between powerful states.The founding fathers of the EU started after WWII by establishing in 1953 a common authority for Coal and Steel, binding industries, that could have produced weapons, to agreements of cooperation and mutual information.When in 1957 the treaty of Rome established the European Community among its six founding members, Germany and France, Italy and the three members of Benelux, Belgium the Netherlands and Luxembourg, the main ambition was to preserve peace on the continent.
I have to shorten the historical background, that took us from 6 to 28 member states. The enlargement by ten member states in 2004, 25 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, was seen as the beginning of a new area, shaping a new map for Europe, after the agreements in Yalta, the end of the Iron Curtain and the Cold War, so we thought, but it was not.
After the compulsory move of millions of people during and after the two wars, followed by assimilation and humiliation of the displaced persons, the legacy of Hitler and Stalin is still haunting the European policy today. It was for sure one of the most crucial decisions taken by the leaders of the EU not to change borders, not satisfactory to many, leaving greater debates in many member states.The Charta of fundamental rights, submitted with the Lisbon treaty in 2007 to the agreement of the member states, enables all the citizens of the EU to live in a space of free jurisdiction, ensuring each person’s individual rights in respect to religious and cultural beliefs.The acceptance by 28 governments to be submitted to a supranational union, aiming at a union of citizens, keeping as well the shape of nation states, is yet to be better promoted.Could this serve as a model for world wide peace, as it is until now a unique way of governance?The numerous recent conflicts tell us that not only governments and dictators are deciding but the people. Remember Tahrir square in Cairo, Taksim square in Istanbul, Majdan square in Ukraine. The war in Ukraine is a painful moment in the history of the European continent. Since 2004 and the orange revolution in Ukraine, no diplomatic success, including talks with Russia, came into force.The weakness of the EU resulting from the commercial interests of some of the member states, has not enabled a unanimous position in due time. The energetic dependence on Russian Gas, as well as the export of goods and technology, made the EU a hostage of President Putin. Integration cannot become synonymous to assimilation, cultural diversity is the true wealth of the EU. This challenge is to say: Better knowledge of the history and the culture, the language, the music and the religion of the other, in respect to traditions and values. This should make it possible to live together peacefully.
50 million of refugees worldwide are the challenge of a century that started as the first century without State colonizers. The most crucial and deeply concerning question however is the ongoing development of militarism.Who sold-and continues to sell-all the weapons killing today thousands of people, in Ukraine, in Gaza, in Syria and in so many places in Africa.
Winston Churchill said:
« The empires of the future will be empires of the mind », and of the hearts I would like to add.
Investment in soft power, cultural diplomacy, peace building missions as tools for reconciliation, should be the worldwide initiative for religious and state leaders, for universities and for each person on the globe.And I would conclude by quoting the French Minister of Culture André Malraux who was asked by a journalist, what would be his recommendation after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. His answer was:
« The 21st Century has to reintegrate the Gods ».
The numerous recent conflicts tell us that not only governments and dictators are deciding but the people. Remember Tahrir square in Cairo, Taksim square in Istanbul, Majdan square in Ukraine.
The war in Ukraine is a painful moment in the history of the European continent. Since 2004 and the orange revolution in Ukraine, no diplomatic success, including talks with Russia, came into force.
The weakness of the EU resulting from the commercial interests of some of the member states, has not enabled a unanimous position in due time. The energetic dependence on Russian Gas, as well as the export of goods and technology, made the EU a hostage of President Putin.
Integration cannot become synonymous to assimilation, cultural diversity is the true wealth of the EU. This challenge is to say: Better knowledge of the history and the culture, the language, the music and the religion of the other, in respect to traditions and values. This should make it possible to live together peacefully.
50 million of refugees worldwide are the challenge of a century that started as the first century without State colonizers.
The most crucial and deeply concerning question however is the ongoing development of militarism.
Who sold-and continues to sell-all the weapons killing today thousands of people, in Ukraine, in Gaza, in Syria and in so many places in Africa.
Winston Churchill said:
« The empires of the future will be empires of the mind », and of the hearts I would like to add.
Investment in soft power, cultural diplomacy, peace building missions as tools for reconciliation, should be the worldwide initiative for religious and state leaders, for universities and for each person on the globe.
And I would conclude by quoting the French Minister of Culture André Malraux who was asked by a journalist, what would be his recommendation after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hi answer was:
« The 21st Century has to reintegrate the Gods ».
The numerous recent conflicts tell us that not only governments and dictators are deciding but the people. Remember Tahrir square in Cairo, Taksim square in Istanbul, Majdan square in Ukraine.
The war in Ukraine is a painful moment in the history of the European continent. Since 2004 and the orange revolution in Ukraine, no diplomatic success, including talks with Russia, came into force.
The weakness of the EU resulting from the commercial interests of some of the member states, has not enabled a unanimous position in due time. The energetic dependence on Russian Gas, as well as the export of goods and technology, made the EU a hostage of President Putin.
Integration cannot become synonymous to assimilation, cultural diversity is the true wealth of the EU. This challenge is to say: Better knowledge of the history and the culture, the language, the music and the religion of the other, in respect to traditions and values. This should make it possible to live together peacefully.
50 million of refugees worldwide are the challenge of a century that started as the first century without State colonizers.
The most crucial and deeply concerning question however is the ongoing development of militarism.
Who sold-and continues to sell-all the weapons killing today thousands of people, in Ukraine, in Gaza, in Syria and in so many places in Africa.
Winston Churchill said:
« The empires of the future will be empires of the mind », and of the hearts I would like to add.
Investment in soft power, cultural diplomacy, peace building missions as tools for reconciliation, should be the worldwide initiative for religious and state leaders, for universities and for each person on the globe.
And I would conclude by quoting the French Minister of Culture André Malraux who was asked by a journalist, what would be his recommendation after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hi answer was:
« The 21st Century has to reintegrate the Gods ».
Ladies and Gentlemen,
My home country is the tiny Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in the heart of the European Union. Created a neutral buffer state between France and Germany at the Vienna Congress in 1814 it has survived as an independent nation, in spite of many dangerous moments, questioning it’s existence.
During World War I the country was not a member of the triple entente, it was occupied by German troops, in spite of being neutral, so was it in WWII by the Nazis, who enrolled by force all the Luxembourgers into the German Army. Our liberation by the American troops during the battle of the Bulge is not forgotten, we know what we owe to American veterans.
Today we are a member of the Security Council of the UN, our former Prime Minister Jean Claude Juncker has been nominated future President of the European Commission. As a small nation we share responsibilities for peace in the World. Actually 45% of the resident population are non Luxembourgers, coming from a hundred of different nationalities, living together in respect of each other’s culture.
Excellencies,
it is not my task to speak about my country but to draw some guidelines from a European point of view concerning peace among nations.
Nations, are sometimes the result of a deal between winners and losers of armed conflicts. Had borders been drawn along ethnic and cultural principles, the map of the European continent would be different. In this respect the founding of the European Union was a unique act of forgiveness and peaceful outcome of armed conflicts between powerful states.
The founding fathers of the EU started after WWII by establishing in 1953 a common authority for Coal and Steel, binding industries, that could have produced weapons, to agreements of cooperation and mutual information.
When in 1957 the treaty of Rome established the European Community among its six founding members, Germany and France, Italy and the three members of Benelux, Belgium the Netherlands and Luxembourg, the main ambition was to preserve peace on the continent.
I have to shorten the historical background, that took us from 6 to 28 member states. The enlargement by ten member states in 2004, 25 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, was seen as the beginning of a new area, shaping a new map for Europe, after the agreements in Yalta, the end of the Iron Curtain and the Cold War, so we thought, but it was not.
After the compulsory move of millions of people during and after the two wars, followed by assimilation and humiliation of the displaced persons, the legacy of Hitler and Stalin is still haunting the European policy today.
It was for sure one of the most crucial decisions taken by the leaders of the EU not to change borders, not satisfactory to many, leaving greater debates in many member states.
The Charta of fundamental rights, submitted with the Lisbon treaty in 2007 to the agreement of the member states, enables all the citizens of the EU to live in a space of free jurisdiction, ensuring each person’s individual rights in respect to religious and cultural beliefs.
The acceptance by 28 governments to be submitted to a supranational union, aiming at a union of citizens, keeping as well the shape of nation states, is yet to be better promoted.
Could this serve as a model for world wide peace, as it is until now a unique way of governance?
The numerous recent conflicts tell us that not only governments and dictators are deciding but the people. Remember Tahrir square in Cairo, Taksim square in Istanbul, Majdan square in Ukraine.
The war in Ukraine is a painful moment in the history of the European continent. Since 2004 and the orange revolution in Ukraine, no diplomatic success, including talks with Russia, came into force.
The weakness of the EU resulting from the commercial interests of some of the member states, has not enabled a unanimous position in due time. The energetic dependence on Russian Gas, as well as the export of goods and technology, made the EU a hostage of President Putin. Integration cannot become synonymous to assimilation, cultural diversity is the true wealth of the EU. This challenge is to say: Better knowledge of the history and the culture, the language, the music and the religion of the other, in respect to traditions and values. This should make it possible to live together peacefully.50 million of refugees worldwide are the challenge of a century that started as the first century without State colonizers. The most crucial and deeply concerning question however is the ongoing development of militarism. Who sold-and continues to sell-all the weapons killing today thousands of people, in Ukraine, in Gaza, in Syria and in so many places in Africa.
Winston Churchill said:
« The empires of the future will be empires of the mind », and of the hearts I would like to add.
Investment in soft power, cultural diplomacy, peace building missions as tools for reconciliation, should be the worldwide initiative for religious and state leaders, for universities and for each person on the globe.
And I would conclude by quoting the French Minister of Culture André Malraux who was asked by a journalist, what would be his recommendation after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hi answer was:
« The 21st Century has to reintegrate the Gods ».