Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-05-11-Speech-3-145"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20050511.16.3-145"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, 8 May 1945 was the date that heralded the end of the Second World War, but it was also the date that sealed the end of the Fascist and Nazi dictatorships in Europe. On that day, Europe liberated itself from the spectre of authoritarianism, and that date also heralded the beginning of a Europe aspiring towards peace and social justice.
Europe was liberated by the resistance of men and women, partisans who built the institutional and moral foundations of this Europe. Europe was liberated by those who fought at Stalingrad; it was liberated by American and Canadian Allied troops, and equally by the Soviet army. That date can be regarded as the foundation stone upon which a new Europe was built.
That page of history is, unfortunately, all too often subjected to revisionist plunder and attacks, and even this debate is marred by an unmistakeable revisionist impetus. By indistinctly muddling 8 May 1945 with the crimes of Stalinism, we do a disservice to the commemoration of the Liberation of Europe. I should like to be clear on that point: in terms of political beliefs, personal data and cultural development
myself and my group have no problem in firmly condemning the horrors of Stalinism; however, in this debate, people are seeking to surreptitiously bring to life the theories of Nolte, which equate Nazism with Communism, and not only with Stalinism.
In truth, the values of peace and social justice were, in that short century, threatened not only by Stalinism, but equally by colonialism, by imperialism, and by neo-liberalism: from Algeria to Vietnam, from the shelling of Belgrade to the massacres of Sabra and Shatila, up to the events of 11 September 1973 in Santiago del Chile.
We must do right by history: the memory of the past is a crucial gift in enabling us to contend with the future and to build the horizons of this Europe. There is only one way to strengthen Europe: we must ban the term war from our vocabulary. Europe must play an active role in building a peaceful world, stretching from Iraq to Afghanistan, and to Palestine. To conclude, Europe has to be more courageous and authoritative; we must reverse the famous Latin saying and forcefully assert
or ‘if you want peace, prepare for peace’. That must be our guiding light."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
"si vis pacem para pacem,"1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples