“Peace goes without saying for us”
Four young Europeans talk about remembering the past.
In 1989, when the Wall fell, they were only a few months old or hadn’t even been born yet. That doesn’t mean that Anya, Mathilde, Jan and Malte do not care about these historical events. No, they even see lessons for the future. They are now exchanging views with others in the European Youth Parliament. Clara Görtz and Helen Sibum met with the four young people in Berlin
DE Magazin: What personal links do you have with the events that are now being commemorated in 2014?
Jan: For us in the Czech Republic the most influential events are definitely the fall of the Wall and the end of the Communist regime in our country. However, I only know about that time from the stories my parents told me – I was born in April 1989, in the year of the coup.
Malte: In Germany, of course, the two world wars are important topics. In recent years, however, I have also discovered lots of new things about the fall of the Wall myself. I originally come from a small town in western Germany. It was only when I moved to Berlin as a student that I met people whose lives were very directly influenced by the division of Germany and who consciously experienced the process of reunification.
Anya: It was only here in Berlin, too, that I first realised what a great role the fall of the Wall plays in Europe. In Ukraine the focus is on the Second World War. My grandfather often told us about it. His siblings starved to death, and his father fled to the United States. He experienced terrible things. All his life he has been afraid that something like that could happen again. He is now almost 80 years old. He observes what is currently happening in Ukraine with considerable concern.
Mathilde, the First World War is the focus of remembrance in France, isn’t it?
Mathilde: Yes, that’s a long-standing tradition. Every year I used to go to the cemetery with my parents to remember the soldiers who died. But I have now also been interested in Germany for a long time and therefore know that the Second World War has special significance here.
Anya: Incidentally, that’s something I first had to discover for myself – just how strongly the German memory of the Second World War is associated with grief and horror. For Ukrainians the end of the Second World War is above all a reason for celebration. We liberated Europe from the Nazis.
In your opinion, how stable is peace in Europe today?
Jan: Pretty stable. I’m not afraid there will be another major conflict.
Mathilde: Basically, I would agree with that. But it depends on how much attention we pay to remembrance. I’m actually rather afraid these things could occur again if we forget what happened. We don’t always learn from the past.
Malte: I regard peace between the EU countries as enduring. You can criticise a lot of things about the EU, but peace exists and it is not up for debate.
Anya: It was also peaceful in Europe in 1913. Fortunately, we are all currently agreed – but for how long? International law is being systematically undermined in Ukraine.
Malte: Are you really afraid that a major war could break out there?
Anya: Yes, that really seems quite possible to me. Essentially, war is already taking place. People are dying. It’s not quite true that we live in especially peaceful times.
The European politician Jean-Claude Juncker says: “Telling young people that Europe is a peace machine no longer works because most of them do not have any experience of war.” Do we take peace too much for granted?
Mathilde: That’s probably true for the generation born after the fall of the Wall. We have never known war. The situation in Ukraine is a slap in the face, and that’s why it’s so important to remember the past – and constantly recall why the European Union was founded in the first place.
Shouldn’t young people become more strongly involved?
Malte: Absolutely. Before the 2013 Bundestag election in Germany I heard a terribly large number of people say they weren’t going to vote – and yet voting is the very simplest form of participation. The better informed you are and the more actively you are involved, the greater the chance you can prevent false developments.
Many people in Europe believe the European Parliament lacks a big idea, a guiding principle. How do you view European politics?
Mathilde: I see it as a contradiction that some people claim the EU is not democratic, but then don’t vote. I can understand, however, that the European elections arouse little passion. It is difficult to identify with the parties. But advances are being made; European politics is getting more interesting. This year, for the first time, the parties are standing presidential candidates. Perhaps that will help to encourage more intense debate.
Malte: It still seems to be the case that European politics is oriented towards governments and not parties. People don’t feel they are represented by the Christian Democrats or the Social Democrats, but by Germany or France. That’s why it’s difficult to develop any connections, especially for the inhabitants of the smaller EU countries. Nevertheless, I find it particularly absurd that anti-European parties are coming together in the European Parliament.
Can crises divide Europe?
Jan: On the contrary, they unite Europe. The financial crisis is the reason why we are currently moving in the direction of closer cooperation. That is particularly true not only for the Czech Republic, but also for other countries.
Malte: I would like to disagree with Jan on that point. The crisis was perceived very differently in different countries. I was a student in London in 2012 and contributed to a project in which many young Europeans participated. The Spaniards and Portuguese in particular were very annoyed about the German stance. I could understand their anger. These were highly qualified young people who seemed to have no prospects despite their education and knowledge of several languages, people whose parents had also just lost their jobs. You could sense how things were drifting apart.
Jan: I see closer cooperation resulting from the financial crisis above all with regard to institutions and legislation. In cultural terms, relations were damaged. I would agree with you on that.
Malte: But cultural ties are really the most important. They are the key.
Mathilde: For my part, I hope that Europe will eventually benefit from the crisis, that it will learn from it and grow as a result. So far, however, I haven’t seen that.
To what extent are you yourselves profiting from European integration?
Mathilde: That’s difficult to say. I was born in 1991, one year before the adoption of the Maastricht Treaty. The EU has always existed for me. However, I believe that European integration enables interchange between people and that is crucial: the EU brings people together.
Malte: For me, too, people, contact and mobility are the biggest benefits. You can go to school abroad, study abroad, work abroad – there are so many opportunities, and that’s great.
Nevertheless, youth unemployment is a big problem in Europe. Does it worry you?
Malte: I myself am not particularly worried, but I know people of my age in Europe who find it very difficult to find a good job with adequate pay. That’s an enormous problem. The European ideal has to work for everyone equally. Everyone has to benefit – that should be the goal. We urgently need solutions for the difficulties in the education sector and for youth unemployment.
Youth unemployment is also the subject of a think tank organised by the Schwarzkopf Foundation Young Europe. You are meeting people of your age there to exchange views and opinions. What happens to the ideas you develop?
Mathilde: We are formulating a strategy paper that we will present to the European Commission. Some members of the European Parliament will give us their appraisal and discuss the proposals with us.
Do you get the feeling that they are really interested in your views?
Mathilde: We are meeting with the European Commissioner for Social Affairs and Inclusion and other cabinet members. I think that’s a good sign.
Malte: Our ideas will perhaps have an impact in another respect: we are the people who will work in European organisations and industry in the future. Perhaps we will be decision-makers. To that extent it is good to form opinions and communicate them as early as possible.
Would you describe the kind of Europe in which you would like to live in the future?
Malte: There should be greater equality and stability. Europe is not automatically growing together. That becomes especially clear when you consider the countries of southern Europe. Twenty-five years have now passed since the fall of the Wall, but living conditions have not even been harmonised in eastern and western Germany.
Mathilde: I would like citizens to develop a stronger relationship with Europe. I hope we will be able to create a common European identity in the future.
Jan: A greater awareness of Europe and a stronger European feeling would be desirable – and a closer association between the different European countries.
Anya: It would be good if Europe were a little more supportive and less sceptical about the countries that would like to become members, such as Ukraine.
MALTE ROSSKOPF
25, Germany
The law student lives in Berlin. He considers the political involvement of young people an important means of preventing false developments
ANYA SUPRUNENKO
24, Ukraine
She works as a political consultant. While she was a student, she chaired the European Youth Parliament in Ukraine
MATHILDE PASCAL
22, France
She is completing a Franco-German Master degree programme in public administration and European governance at the University of Konstanz and Sciences Po Grenoble
JAN MAREŠ
25, Czech Republic
The student of business administration will soon complete his degree. He hopes for stronger ties between individual countries in Europe