Tribune. In his speech of November 23, 1959 in Strasbourg, General de Gaulle called for his wishes the constitution of a “Europe of Nations”, gathered from the Atlantic to the Urals. Once again, the general showed a vision that crossed the century, beyond the strategic circumstances of the moment, which it knew passenger.
Yes, this vision could seem unrealistic at the moment when Germany was divided and where the Red Army swelled half of the continent. But General de Gaulle addressed, beyond ideologies, of which he did few cases, countries and nations, “all those old lands where was born, where modern civilization blooms”.
Today we are there. The fall of the iron curtain triggered a tremendous democratic wave that overwhelmed the continent and allowed the European family to meet. The history of these last forty years is the history of a continent that finds its roots, even though all the fruits of this reconciliation still remain to pick.
A multipolar world has emerged
At the time of escalation of tensions around Ukraine and where discussions between Americans and Russians take place on the future of security in Europe, without Europeans, I call everyone to return to the premonitory vision of General de Gaulle. In Russia, which addressed its proposals to the United States to resolve security issues on our continent, I say: do not complain to be considered with the eyes of the cold war, if you come back to the approach the More retrograde thereof.
I conceive although the mirror effect of a Moscow-Washington axis fucks the nostalgia of a past time, but I say to our Russian friends, the time of the world condominium is over. A multipolar world has emerged, new powers have taken their place on the international scene. Russia, eternal Russia, that of Tolstoy and Pushkin, which I know and that I like, does before all part of the European continent and should no longer dream of sharing the world in a head-to-face with the states United.
In the United States, I say: Finally accept that Europeans can take care of the problems of their own family. The Americans have come twice to help European democracies during the past century and I will never forget what we owe them. I will never say that NATO is “in a state of cerebral death”, irresponsible, because the Atlantic Alliance remains a major pillar of the continent’s balance and security.
You have 65.27% of this article to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.