Post photo: Crumbling European flag | © Shutterstock
On May 9, 2023, we were able to observe a last gasp from the self-confessed Europeans, which was not even noticed by the local press due to the size of the crowd that had gathered there. only with Guy Verhofstadt a notable politician was represented.
Meanwhile, a few top politicians delivered the usual Sunday speeches in front of their respective courts, not a single one of whom believes a single word, let alone is willing to ever implement these promises in reality.
Worse still, at the same time they are pulling their nationalist tools out of the mothball box, solely to impress their electorate with clumsy populism. European solutions have been avoided for more than 70 years, if at all possible, because they endanger the respective sinecures of the incumbents and their followers, and even worse, fundamentally call them into question.
And so it has become European policy to promise the well-known workable solutions, but at the same time to delay them with all possible means until the end of the world. Which now means that the overall situation in Europe is getting worse and more intolerable. The blame for this is skilfully shifted to Europe on all sides, and selfishness ensures that the national and completely antiquated attempts at solutions are becoming increasingly petty and small-state — soon not only the federal states will be fighting over us, but soon the districts and municipalities will also be fighting over theirs last shirts.
And even the European federalists are in the process of dissolving after more than 80 years, the internal rifts that have always existed are getting deeper and many are leaving our citizens' movement disappointed. Some associations only exist on paper or, like the Czechs, are now officially leaving the association as a whole.
Other European federalists are also withdrawing in a completely un-European way to their respective district associations and hoping to be able to survive the recent nationalist storms in the "internal emigration". Others, on the other hand, are desperately trying to persuade the citizens of the Union (especially the representatives of the people) to a federal state with half-baked draft constitutions and quick appeals — what has not been achieved in 70 years will no longer be possible.
And it doesn't help that you actually has the will of the majority of the people on his side and that even the majority of the members of the European Parliament are in favor of such a federal state, because the politicians who will decide this will again and skillfully know how to suppress it.
We here in Heilbronn are trying to hold our ground until the end and, as the EUROPA-UNION district association, get through the gathering hurricane. In addition, we try to keep in touch with all those who are still like-minded and continue to be with our fellow citizens for one federal to promote a European federal state.
We also know that most things can and must be solved at the local level. But unlike many fellow citizens, we recognize that when it comes to things like climate catastrophes and world wars, you can neither duck away nor prevent them locally, let alone manage their effects all by yourself.
And that's why we hope until the end that as many fellow citizens from Heilbronn and all of Europe will accept our offer to talk on September 23, 2023 and talk to us about a positive future for Europe and would be happy to discuss it.
If the majority of us just wanted it and stood up for it, then we could actually turn the corner!
"Anyone who does not believe in miracles in European affairs is not a realist."
Walter Hallstein, quoted in Karlheinz Koppe, The green E prevails (1967: 164)
Realized when posting that I already used this title in 2014. Has anything improved since then?
