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As an MEP I know Europe’s problems are caused by bad leadership – here’s how we can solve Brexit and the refugee crisis

Who do you trust to build a better future: those who say that our best days are opportunities for a peaceful coexistence to our peoples or those who seek to divide us?

Morten Helveg Petersen
Monday 21 January 2019 14:30 GMT
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Whatever comes out of the Brexit chaos, we need you in the fight for a greener, freer and stronger Europe
Whatever comes out of the Brexit chaos, we need you in the fight for a greener, freer and stronger Europe

Everything about Brexit has been a disaster – from the long and winding road leading to the 2016 referendum, to the chaos and ongoing resignation of ministers and the British parliament’s vote on the exit deal negotiated with the EU 27. Every step of the way there has been turmoil and a lack of vision and responsibility. It all comes down to one thing: failure in leadership.

It is young Brits who will have to live with the choices made on their behalf. They voted in vast majority to Remain, but their voice wasn’t heard. That is not leadership. The political leaders of today have to stand accountable to the generations of tomorrow, who will live with the consequences of what we do – or more importantly, what we fail to do.

The story is the same within the EU. More than three years since the refugee crisis was at its height in the summer of 2015, the European heads of state still haven’t agreed on long-term solutions. The same happened after the financial crisis 10 years ago – too little too late; climate change – same story. As French president Emmanuel Macron said: “We didn’t choose ourselves to be here at this time in age – but the choices we make will determine the future of the planet.”

Outside the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, trees have been planted in honor of those who saved many Jews during the Second World War in humanitarian acts of civil disobedience. We keep the memory of the atrocities – as well as the bravery of many – alive, and the actions of our grandparents make us proud. But at the time, nobody wanted part in “the Jewish refugee” problem. This is important to remember, although not with pride.

So who will they plant a tree for in the civil war museum in Damascus, when the war in Syria is over? Great Britain, Denmark, the European Union? I do not think so. Even though the war has contributed strongly to the fact that there are more refugees in the world right now than at any other time since the Second World War, the lack of political leadership has let them down.

In Moria, Europe’s biggest refugee camp based on the Greek island of Lesbos, thousands of people sit in the cold waiting for us to decide on their destiny. They live in disgraceful conditions. They are saved, but they are forgotten. Nobody wants to talk about them. Nobody wants to decide on them. Let me tell you why.

Among many things, the camp is also a testament to the fact that we are lacking political leaders who stand up and dare take to responsibility, even when it becomes difficult; leaders who stand up for our values and stand firm on compassion, and in whose honor we will plant not only one but several trees when time comes.

Where are the European leaders today? Because we are in desperate need of them in the common fight to regain the trust of the people who have been let down. Not only in Syria and in Moria, but also right here in Britain and all over Europe. Here, on our own turf, there is a sense of disillusion.

We who want a stronger Europe have to understand and recognise that many people see and experience our Europe as an unfulfilled promise. They cannot see what is in it for them. They do not believe that Europe will take care of their children and grandchildren. In fact to them Europe is the problem of all problems.

I am not referring to Brexit, but I could have been, because the story is the same in every single nation around Europe. In Germany, in Spain, in Poland and so on. That is why we have to reach out. We have to listen to the people. We also must fight to regain their trust, or win it for the first time. This will not be easy.

In fact, I urge not only political leaders but you, me, everybody, to look in the mirror, and ask ourselves, what are we fighting for? We are fighting to regain the trust of the people who have been let down. Against those fear-mongering nationalist forces, who will stop at nothing before all that was built up by generations before us is again torn down.

Not by becoming them. Not by shaming the people who considered voting for them. Not by picking old fights. Instead by forging new alliances. I do not care if you were once this or that. If we are joining hands to move forward, then no hand is too small or too tainted to reach out to. We are not in it to win it for ourselves. This time around, so much more than party politics and national politics it at stake. Political leaders need to understand that. Again, I am not writing about Brexit or the Conservative Party here, although the shoe fits. This counts for all of Europe, and many other places including the US.

To regain the trust of the people we need to have as many political forces as possible answering simple questions: Who do you trust to build a better future: those who say that our best days are opportunities for a peaceful coexistence to our peoples or those who seek to divide us?

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Whatever comes out of the Brexit chaos, we need you in the fight for a greener, freer and stronger Europe. And you need us. I firmly believe that if we dare, that is actually what we can deliver to future generations. But we need to come together.

Let’s rise to the occasion and take actions that our children will look back on with pride. Let’s plant the tree of trust: trust in each other and in our common future, in the fact that when facing daunting challenges we are not better off alone but together. Trust that our best days are still ahead.

Morten Helveg Petersen is a danish member of the European Parliament

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