On The Anniversary Of The Berlin Wall, Europeans Must Continue To Fight For Freedom

Our European democracies are fragile and cannot be taken for granted; liberal democracy must be fought for. Exposed to emerging nationalist and clientilistic movements, both external and within our borders, are exploiting social media and using disinformation techniques to polarise our communities and question received wisdoms.

This is why the fight against fake news and the manipulation of information must be an integral part of our digital strategy. We know that there are powerful tools on which authoritarian powers invest, distorting the progress that has been made.

The European Union of today must better protect its citizens from physical weapons, but also from the weaponisation of ideologies that impede freedom, limit creativity and aim to stir up hatred rather than promote empathy and cohesion.

Attacks on the rule of law and political freedom, as we have seen in Hungary, must be firmly combated. We must be resolute and make clear that it is unacceptable to see Government-led investigations against an opposition political party, aimed at intimidating and deterring any opposition, in the Europe of 2019. Opposition movements, like Momentum, are fighting back, despite constant harassment, and building, systematically, a solid alternative to Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party and they need our support. 

Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, let us commemorate those who gave their lives to win their freedom. We celebrate our achievements since and the freedoms, peace, we have secured. However, let us not stand idly and watch as undemocratic forces unpick these, by undermining our hard won freedoms. 

In response to the obvious limitations in the functioning of our the European Union institutions, let’s roll up our sleeves and launch a Europe-wide conference on our shared future, involving EU citizens, in order to lay the foundations of a progressive and inclusive new European project.

Dacian Cioloş is the former prime minister of Romania and the president of the Renew Europe Group in the European Parliament.