The road towards a unified and democratic Europe was treacherous and long. For centuries, European countries were at war against each other and, as recently as the 1940s, dictatorships threatened to destroy Europe in an irreversible manner. World War II ended in 1945, leaving millions of soldiers and civilians dead and destroying some of the major European cities. Its effects, though, lingered for much longer.
The creation of the Eastern bloc brought about perhaps the biggest divide that Europe had ever experienced, with tens of countries being annihilated by the Soviet Union and with many others being nothing more than puppet republics under the strict surveillance of the politbureau in Moscow. This situation also resulted in the division of Germany into two countries, with Berlin being literally split in half by the infamous Berlin Wall, which to all Europeans was a symbol of oppression and denial of freedom.
The Cold War of later decades did nothing to help relations between eastern and western Europe and the free democratic west was under constant threat from the Communist bloc.
In time, it became clear to the Soviets, and the policymakers of the Warsaw Pact, they could no longer pursue this politics of isolation and oppression.
The election of Mikhail Gorbachev, first as Secretary-General of the Communist Party and later President of the Soviet Union was the first of many steps to end the Cold War and to begin the long process of reunification and give back liberty and freedom of expression to those living in the eastern European countries after having denied them such rights for over 40 years. As we all know, the culmination of this process was the summit held off the shores of Malta between George Bush and Mr Gorbachev, just a couple of weeks after the fall of the wall of shame and division in Berlin. This marked the beginning of a reunification process that would eventually lead us to an enlarged European Union of 27 states but, maybe more importantly, to a Europe that guaranteed fundamental freedoms at the highest level.
The centre-right parties of Europe played a very important part in this whole process. The European Peoples’ Party as a group firmly believed there was only one plausible path for Europe to take, that of reunification. This process was also triggered by Jacques Delors’ famous speech, back in January of 1990, where he indicated the route towards the unification of Germany.
Needless to say, this reunification process had its sceptics from within western European countries themselves as they were now treading unknown waters and it took no small degree of convincing from Mr Delors and those like him who believed in the cause to push on with the process.
Last week, as part of the events held during Malta Week that took place in Brussels, I had the opportunity to pay courtesy visits, along with Nationalist Party secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier, Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco and other party officials, to Joseph Daul, president of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, and to Wilfred Martens, president of the European Peoples’ Party, who was also Prime Minister of Belgium.
What struck me most during these visits was that the values and the priorities of our group have not changed or withered throughout the years. Our group’s aim is to follow through with policies beneficial to European citizens who now number over 450 million. Both Mr Daul and Mr Martens affirmed that our main aim was the unification and the integration of those who make up our society and to turn Europe into one big united family where everyone is different but, most importantly, everyone is equal.
Times may change, yet our commitment to freedom and equality will remain constant. Through dialogue, knowledge sharing and investment we aim to raise the standard of living of each and every European and ensure no one is left wanting. The centre-right family has proven to be a shield to each and every European throughout the years, promoting fairness and freedom. We should continue to build on what we have achieved in order to consolidate the theory that Europe is not only the front runner in economy and technology but, perhaps most importantly, the best place in the world to live.
The author is a Nationalist member of the European Parliament.