The President of the European Parliament gave a speech at the International Charlemagne Prize Award in Aachen. In her speech, she spoke about the defining moment for Europe. "Our collective security is a common challenge. Like the citizens of Aachen, we must remain steadfast: unity is our only solution," she said.
Dear President of the Bundestag, Dear Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dear Mayor of the State of Aachen, Dear Winners of the International Charlemagne Prize Dear Chairman of the Charlemagne Prize Board, Dear Presidents Pöttering and Schultz, Dear Friends,
It is an honour and a privilege to be addressing you here in the City of Aachen, on the occasion of the 2022 International Charlemagne Prize.
A city known for its rich history and impressive architecture. For its charming Christmas market too, which I make a point to visit every year with my family. A City located in far Western Germany, right on border with northern Belgium and southern Netherlands. A three-country-point in the heart of Europe.
The City of Aachen itself is a symbol for our European project. As a border location mediating and uniting people from different countries, and home to Charlemagne - ‘The Father of Europe’ - it is most fitting for the International Charlemagne Prize to be launched and awarded here.
The International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen represents the very best of Europe. Even in the worst of times, the citizens of the City of Aachen were steadfast in their belief: only unity can guarantee peace in Europe. And so from the ashes of war, the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen was born on Christmas 1949. A prize which gives Europe - gives freedom and democracy - a voice, by annually honouring “exceptional work performed in the service of European unity”.
And so it has.
Along the years, the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen has awarded key figures or bodies distinguished by their outstanding work toward European unity.
Because as we know, work done in the service of European unification knows no age. In fact, since 2008, the Charlemagne Prize Foundation and the European Parliament have also awarded the European Charlemagne Youth Prize to youth-run projects that promote European and international cooperation. The award highlights the daily work by young people across Europe to strengthen European democracy and supports their active participation in writing the future of Europe.
In this year dedicated to youth, it took on an ever-more important role.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I spend a lot of my time meeting young people, discussing with them and understanding what they want to see from their Europe. They care. They are engaged. They have not given in to easy cynicism that marks so much of our political discourse. They see politics as a force for good. A force for positive change.
Politics matters. It is about the battle of ideas in an-ever progressing environment. It is about standing up for what you believe in.
And dear friends, few people have paid a higher price for believing in the power of politics, in standing up for democracy and what they believe in than this year's International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen winners.
Three women, three of the toughest, bravest, most courageous leaders I have the honour of knowing: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Veronica Tsepkalo and Maria Kalesnikava.
They did not choose politics. Politics choose them in the most brutal, cruellest of ways, but they stood up and they stand tall in defence of a free and democratic Belarus.
Change will come to Belarus and when it does it will be these women who bring it.
The Lukashenko regime in Belarus represents everything that Europe was built to stand against. Autocracy, arbitrary detention, torture. Things that seem incomprehensible to younger generations of Europeans who have only known peace, who have lived in our Europe of democracy, of rights, of solidarity, of equality and rule of law.
It is easy to take for granted these values, values that Belarus are fighting for. Values that have seem them exiled and imprisoned.
This has to stop.
The European Parliament has ramped up its efforts to continue to push back against the Lukashenko regime. We’ve banned Belarusian air carriers landing in or overflying the EU. We’ve adopted sanctions against Lukashenko and his allies and recently also approved a resolution calling for more.
We have - and will continue - to support a future democratic Belarus.
This is why it is so important that today we are awarding the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen to Sviatlana, Veronica and Maria. Brave women who are living symbols of patriotism, of democratic struggle, of freedom, of everything the European Union stands for. Leading the fight for democratic changes despite the consequences they and their loved ones face.
I cannot think of more worthy individuals.
The world around us is less friendly than it was a generation ago. Than it was three months ago.
We see this with the dangerous situation in Belarus. We see this with Putin’s illegal war on Ukraine.
Ukrainians and Belarusians look to Europe for support. Because they know what millions of Europeans who were forced to spend half a century behind the yoke of the iron curtain will tell you: There is no alternative to Europe.
They tell us that - peace, democracy, freedom, human rights, the rule of law - cannot be taken for granted, in a world where we perhaps already have. Many Europeans today find European belonging in free roaming, in low-cost travel and in the convenience of our common currency. When their parents and grandparents found it in peace.
Make no mistake, Ukrainians and Belarusian citizens are not only fighting for their lives. They are fighting to preserve our common values - what we call our European values. This is why we opened our hearts and home to 6 million Ukrainians, enacted strong sanctions against Putin and his allies, and continue to deliver aid to Ukraine.
The same commitment and support must also be given to our Belarusian democratic opposition neighbours, who have been forced to live under an authoritarian regime.
We are once again at a defining moment for Europe. Our collective security is a common challenge. Like the citizens of Aachen, we must remain steadfast: unity is our only solution.
It is up to us to defend the rules-based order that we stand for. To cement an inter-dependent relationship between nations and people who are proud of their differences, but who understand that in this new world, the future can only be together. We must speak loudly in defence of our values.
Ukraine must win this war. It is not empty rhetoric to say so. Russia did not stop with Belarus. They did not stop in Crimea. We are right to help Ukraine.
People are looking to Europe for leadership and direction, while others will continue to test the limits of our democratic values and European principles. We must fight back against the anti-EU narrative that takes hold so easily and so quickly. Disinformation and misinformation, nationalism, authoritarianism, protectionism, isolationism and aggression. These are false illusions offering no solutions. Europe is about precisely the opposite. It is about all of us standing up for one another, bringing our people closer together.
And bringing people closer together requires a true bottom-up approach culture. One where citizens and civil society are given the opportunity to meaningfully contribute towards the process of developing our Union. The Conference on the Future of Europe that concluded its work two weeks ago was an example par excellence of how important our cooperation has been and continues to be. Thousands of citizens from all corners of Europe engaged on the digital platform, in the citizens panels, in the working groups and in the Conference plenaries. The conclusions proved that citizens still believe in our European project. But citizens also emphasised that they expect more from Europe - more from us.
More from us in defence. Where we need a new security and defence policy because we know that we need each other, that alone we are vulnerable.
More from us in energy and climate change. Where we must support each other as we disentangle ourselves from Russia and invest in alternative and renewable energy sources.
More from us in health. Where we must heed the lessons of the pandemic and make our health systems interconnected, share information and pool resources.
More from us to revive our economic model. Here we must ensure enough flexibility without tying the hands for generations to come.
More from us in migration. We need a system that is fair with those in need of protection, that is firm with those who are not, but that is strong against those who abuse the most vulnerable people on the planet.
And also, more from us when it comes to equality and solidarity. Our Europe must remain a place where you can be who you wish to be, where your potential is not impacted by your birthplace, your gender, or sexual orientation. A Europe that stands up for our rights. A Europe that leaves nobody behind.
This is the Europe that embodies the spirit of Aachen.
That the International Charlemagne Prize champions.
That Sviatlana, Veronica and Maria fight so hard for.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the age of autocrats is over. Europe’s last dictator will fall. Belarus will be free.
Thank you.