These traumas in France and Ukraine could lead to a European reawakening / GUARDIAN.

‘Much will depend on how political leaders act now. After their show of strength on Sunday, there could be no better time for a grand, heartfelt speech about Europe’s meaning.' Photograph: Philippe Wojazer/Reuters

These traumas in France and Ukraine could lead to a European reawakening

The continent has faced existential crisis twice during the past year. But something positive may yet emerge from it

Natalie Nougayrède

The Guardian, Tuesday 13 January 2015 / http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/13/traumas-france-ukraine-european-reawakening

The mourning is not over, and the utter awe will be widely felt for a long time. It will take time to come to grips with the magnitude of the Paris events: how such terrorist attacks could happen, and how a massive groundswell of street demonstrations came in response.

This is very much a French trauma, reaching deep into the national psyche. All eyes will continue to be on France as it deals with the aftermath of an armed assault during which three young, indoctrinated French citizens massacred 17 people in the capital, targeting journalists, cartoonists, policemen and Jewish people. But this is also a European trauma and crisis.

And if one steps back a little, it can be said this has come in the wake of another very different but also historical European crisis. That is the return of war on the European continent, on Ukrainian soil last year.

These are sharply contrasting crises, but in some ways they are concerned with similar questions about European resilience in the face of aggression, and about the European sense of identity. Both raise the question of a European awakening, of a new sense of belonging, of demos, a word the ancient Greeks used for the people as a political entity.

I thought about this after watching the many European leaders who converged on Paris for the 11 January demonstration. François Hollande, Angela Merkel, David Cameron, Matteo Renzi, Mariano Rajoy, Donald Tusk, Jean-Claude Junker, Frederica Mogherini and others walked arm in arm. It was a unique show of unity and resistance against terror. Millions walked in unison across France. Millions more, all over Europe, expressed solidarity in defence of values such as free speech, tolerance and democracy, which until recently had been taken for granted.

Nothing similar happened after other major terrorist acts in Europe. Not after the 2004 Madrid train bombings (191 dead), nor after the 2005 London suicide attacks (52 dead). I’m not sure why that was the case. Perhaps it had to do with context. Over 10 years ago, Spaniards demonstrated not just against the terrorists but in the context of an electoral campaign. Many were angry at the lies of the Aznar government, which initially claimed the explosions had been carried out by the Basque separatist group Eta, not al-Qaida.

The Je suis Charlie slogan has moved many, even those who felt unease with some cartoons, because the victims were killed for the freedom of expression they made use of; and because seeing citizens gunned down in a European capital because they were Jewish brought back memories of the worst of European history.

And there is the larger European dimension to what has now unfolded both in Paris and in eastern Europe over the last year. There is no connection, of course, between the Paris tragedy and the conflict in Ukraine: a domestic terrorist attack in the name of a jihadist totalitarian ideology and an external military aggression against a sovereign state with a backdrop of Russian ultranationalism.

But there is one common element. It is that the very essence of Europe – a word much associated in recent times with economic travails and political bickering – has come under attack. There is something existential here.

On the one hand, fundamental freedoms, the rule of law and tolerance have been targeted. On the other, it was the continent’s post-cold war setup, the right of an independent state to make its own geopolitical choices, as well as the notion that borders cannot be changed through use of force, that have been trampled. Democratic values and rules, attributes at the heart of European identity, are at the core of these events.

The European project was always meant to be about uniting people, not just states – as Jean Monnet, one of its founding fathers, said. Coming out of the ashes of a world war, the project was not only about the economy and free trade but about embedding democracy and the rule of law, and guaranteeing peace. In recent years parts of public opinion in Europe had started finding these issues almost tiresome. Populists have thrived on such lassitude.

Anything grandiose about Europe was drowned out, or at least was seen as terribly out of touch with people’s day-to-day preoccupations. Attachment to peace and freedom faded from public conscience in favour of heated debates about budget deficit targets, monetary policy, immigration statistics, Grexit, Brexit, squabbling over European commission jobs, and the rest of it.

Europe has appeared weak and tortured since the 2008 financial crisis. It has sometimes been portrayed as the “sick man” of the western world (I include the United States, Australia and Japan in that). The rise of other powers has made the continent seem less relevant in a changing world.

Europeans have doubted themselves and turned inwards, dreading globalisation and seeking refuge behind national boundaries. Many have turned to politicians with xenophobic slogans, or who feed the notion that the EU is the origin of all woes – a supranational, oppressive institution. Immigrants have been scapegoated.

Will the Je suis Charlie slogan be an antidote to ethnic and religious tensions? Will Ukraine’s plight be seen by grassroots Europeans – and not just those in east and central Europe – as requiring common determination and steady policies ? Much will depend on how political leaders act now. After their show of strength on Sunday, there could be no better time for a grand, heartfelt speech about Europe’s meaning. After all, the way people react to events also depends on whether leaders try to lead, or whether they desperately chase cheap votes. Fear cannot be the answer.

One thing is ever more apparent: the solutions to these European crises will not come from individual states but from a collective effort. This goes for dealing both with Russia’s behaviour and the violent salafist networks or cells that exist beyond France. European cooperation will have to be enhanced, paying close attention to its values.

If something positive can ever come from the tragedy, it could be a growing sense of the importance of the European public sphere, something the philosopher Jurgen Habermas, a strong pro-European, has written much about. The conversation may only be starting now, and only because these events have shocked so many. But they have released a new European consciousness. It is much needed.