Toomas Hendrik Ilves

Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves meets with Martin Schulz & addresses the European Parliament

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• published: 03 Feb 2016
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EN - Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President of Estonia, meets with Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, and addresses the European Parliament in a formal sitting in Strasbourg - Full English version - 02.02.2016 - European parliament, Strasbourg. Introductory words by Martin Schulz. Toomas Hendrik Ilves: "Ladies and gentlemen, I begin by apologising for my voice, but I brought something with me from Estonia. Ten years ago I left these chambers to take a new post in my country. There was no euro or migration crisis, no idea that European borders could be changed by force, no talk that the European project might fail. Also, there were no smart phones, no revelations of internet surveillance. There was no Uber, or as we call it, ‘Über’. Ladies and gentlemen, for nearly three quarters of a century we have repeated the mantra of Europe as a project for peace. For the first three quarters of a century, Europe – half of Europe to be precise – thrived and grew, with our security in large part outsourced, even under the shadow of an aggressive, totalitarian Soviet Union. For the past quarter century, in the absence of any external threats, we have pursued the reintegration of Europe – also to bring back to the fold those nations forced against their will to live under totalitarian rule. Today, however, we are confronted with new existential, external – and, as we were reminded in Paris last November, internal – threats. We are at a loss, we are fearful, and Europe for so many is no longer the answer. I hear ringing in my ears William Butler Yeats: ʻTurning and turning in the widening gyre/ The falcon cannot hear the falconer; /Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;/ Mere anarchy is loosed upon the worldʼ. So let us face this new reality. Europe is amidst a transformational crisis. Do we pull together or do we let others deal with it? A transformational crisis where we shall put to the test all that Europe has achieved, step by step, since Monnet and Schuman. We are approaching a tipping point where either we become stronger or we let fissiparous forces prevail. It is crucial to admit that in this transformational crisis much was foreseeable. We knew there were serious problems but we put off dealing with the internal European crisis of the euro until it was almost unmanageable. We thought, at least until recently, that was the greatest threat to the European project. We were wrong. We knew too, and for a long time, that huge income and democracy differentials between Europe and its immediate neighbourhood to the south and east were a time-bomb, ticking away, stayed more by the restraining influence of authoritarian regimes to the south, across the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Today massive migration in the form of flight from the horrific slaughter of civil war and the systematic brutality of Daesh, mixed with economic migration from poverty and lack of economic opportunity, threatens Europe like never before. Schengen is under threat. Some countries refuse to take refugees, others are overwhelmed by the numbers flooding into their countries. Solidarity is crumbling. Some refuse to help, others justly say that solidarity is a two-way street. Structural and cohesion funds are also expensive manifestations of solidarity. Ladies and gentlemen, we are aghast when we hear of the numbers. A million refugees and migrants to Europe this year, predictions of another two million in the next two. Yes, these are truly large numbers. Yes, they will strain social cohesion and our budgets. And yet we have seen far worse and we have prevailed. In the Europe of 1946, Germany alone had 12 million internal refugees and another 12 million displaced persons of 20 different nationalities. (Applause) We also must take full control over the EU’s external border; we cannot be borderless both inside and outside the Union. (Applause) We must also have a functioning common asylum policy, especially when it comes to rejecting spurious claims and returning illegal immigrants. Is this so difficult when we look back to what Europe faced in the years after the Second World War? To resolve this, in three years UNRRA, the UN Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, spent, in today’s money, some EUR 50 billion. I mention this number, illustratively, to give us all a sense of perspective to understand what a daunting task our grandparents faced when Europe had no institutions, sometimes not even sovereign governments. And all of this before the Marshall Plan even started. So, ladies and gentlemen, let us now gather our wits and strengths, leave behind the indecision, finger-pointing and ducking of responsibility. We will handle this migration crisis if we show the resolve of our forebears. (...) (Sustained applause)" Full text here: goo.gl/dEOFr9 Conclusive words by Martin Schulz. © Frédérick Moulin 2016 - EU2016 - European Parliament, Strasbourg - All rights reserved.