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Ausführliche Sitzungsberichte
Mittwoch, 16. April 2014 - Straßburg Überprüfte Ausgabe

100 Jahre nach Ausbruch des Ersten Weltkriegs: Erkenntnisse und die Zukunft Europas (Aussprache)
MPphoto
 

  Hannes Swoboda, im Namen der S&D-Fraktion. – Herr Präsident! Es ist so wie für Joseph Daul und Daniel Cohn-Bendit auch meine letzte Rede. Ich möchte beiden auch alles Gute für das Leben danach wünschen. Das gibt es sicherlich, und wir werden das auch genießen können. Ich möchte mich aber auch bei allen anderen Kolleginnen und Kollegen für die Zusammenarbeit bedanken.

Vor allem möchte ich mich aber auch bei den Wählerinnen und Wählern in meinem Land Österreich bedanken, die mir die ungeheure Chance gegeben haben, am Aufbau eines neuen, einigen Europas mitzuwirken.

Schon bevor ich hierher kam, war meine erste europäische Tätigkeit die Überbringung von Hilfe und Unterstützung an die Stadt Sarajewo am tausendsten Tag der Belagerung dieser Stadt. Bei dieser Gelegenheit sah ich das erste Mal die Stelle, von der aus der österreichisch-ungarische Thronfolger ermordet wurde. Ich sah aber auch, wie nahe an dieser Stelle sich die Kathedrale, die Moschee und die Synagoge befinden.

Sarajewo war ein Symbol für das Zusammenleben von Religionen und Kulturen in einer gemeinsamen Stadt, in einem gemeinsamen Staat – geradezu vorbildhaft. Aber es bedurfte nur einiger weniger verantwortungsloser Politiker, die den nationalistischen Hass schürten, um das friedliche Nebeneinander und Miteinander zu zerstören. Heute sind in dieser Stadt Sarajewo die Wunden der Belagerung und Beschießung genauso erkennbar wie die Stelle, von der aus Gavrilo Princip seine Schüsse abgab.

Es war eine der erfüllendsten Aufgaben für mich in diesem Parlament, gemeinsam mit Kolleginnen und Kollegen mehrerer Fraktionen – vor allem auch mit Doris Pack – daran zu arbeiten, dass sogar am Balkan wieder ein Miteinander möglich wird, ein Miteinander in einem gemeinsamen Europa. Der Kampf gegen den Nationalismus war die Grundlage dieser Zusammenarbeit.

Als Berichterstatter für Kroatien konnte ich daran mitwirken, dass ein neues Kroatien entsteht, in dem auch Serben wieder ihren Platz finden konnten.

But today, dear colleagues, can we really say that we have learned our lessons from the war which started almost one hundred years ago? New nationalist groups and parties, built on hatred and xenophobia, are rising and many sleepwalkers – as Christopher Clark describes them in his outstanding book on World War One – are ignoring the dangers of this new nationalism.

Unfortunately these groups enjoy growing support because the Europe of today is in many ways failing to fulfil the promises politicians gave after the Second World War. New divisions between east and west, and north and south, are being created and heightened instead of mitigated. Take the labour market in Europe. New obstacles are constructed by some of our citizens and new hate-filled prejudices are voiced, for example against the people of Romania and Bulgaria.

At a recent Roma event organised by the Commission a prominent speaker, who is even a Head of State, placed the responsibility for the prejudices on the Roma and not on the societies discriminating against them. Activities by many countries against the Roma community are just tolerated and accepted. Before, and during, the recent elections in Hungary unbelievable attacks were directed against some Members of this Parliament and they were called traitors to the national interest because they defended European values.

Today’s nationalism has its roots in the Europe of today. Nationalism grows on the basis of unacceptably high unemployment, especially for the young. It grows because of a rising gap between the rich and the poor. Because of these social imbalances inside Europe the nationalists can play their dirty blame game against migrants. Instead of helping them, they abuse their misery to raise suspicion and prejudices amidst the citizens of Europe.

When there are not enough jobs for everybody, every foreigner is seen as somebody who is stealing jobs from our people. When we refrain from reducing the gap between the rich and the poor, the advantaged and the disadvantaged, then it will only be about us – the good ones – versus them – the bad ones. Nationalism and xenophobia are inherently aggressive and unjust, but they are nourished and spurred on by poverty, inequality and a growing division in our society.

On Monday morning I visited the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp, which is only 60 km from Parliament. The worst horrors of humanity took place there some decades ago. They were the result of nationalism, racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism. The sleepwalkers in Europe who do not see the growing scepticism against the failing Europe should wake up and work for a Europe of growth, jobs and social fairness, and only a strong and united Europe can defend our interests globally, from labour rights to climate change.

After the European wars we owe a lot to the rest of the world but to do our part now we have to be united. For example, only a united Europe can reject recent attempts like that by Putin’s Russia to stop the enlargement of freedom and prosperity. In this respect, it was particularly sad for me, someone who grew up near the Iron Curtain – fortunately on the western side – when I saw recently new barbed wire erected at the so-called border of South Ossetia inside Georgia. Instead of eliminating the borders of today, the Russia of today is creating, building and strengthening new borders. It is not surprising, but nevertheless scandalous, that some of our nationalists, even in this Parliament, are expressing sympathy, and even support, for Putin’s action.

(Applause)

But let me also express a clear warning. I know it is not always easy to refrain from force, if force is used to annex foreign territory, but we should be cautious. Local conflicts can easily grow into world wars, as we saw after the assassination in Sarajevo. The only sustainable defence is by strengthening the European Union, making it more attractive for our own citizens and in consequence for our neighbours.

Therefore we in this Parliament should stubbornly defend the European way, as opposed to just the cooperation of 28 national ways. This is because the more Europe is based solely on country-to-country cooperation the more it becomes vulnerable to the attacks of some Member States and the nationalists in these Member States.

I would like to remind you that, a few days after the assassination in Sarajevo, a British admiral said farewell to German sailors in Kiel with the following words: ‘Friends today, friends in future, friends forever.’ Some weeks later war broke out and they were fighting against each other.

Friendship is not enough. We need strong European institutions to guarantee peace. François Mitterand, in his last speech in this Parliament, said: ‘Le nationalisme, c’est la guerre’. Maybe nationalism does not lead directly to war but, in the long run, nationalism will cost us social peace, safety, prosperity and international influence. In a global world that would be a high price for our citizens to pay. So let us combat nationalism together and wake up the sleepwalkers before it is too late.

(Applause)

 
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