World in Flames
Under the title ‘World in Flames. Why Freedom Needs Europe’, the Pan-European Union Germany, in cooperation with the Bavarian State Chancellery and the European Institute for Political, Economic and Social Affairs, organised the 61st Andechs Europe Day on 16/17 March 2024.
The discussions centred on the following. The world around Europe is on fire, and in Ukraine, Europeans are directly challenged by Russian aggression. What contribution can Europe make to consolidating security and peace around the globe?
According to long-time Munich MEP Bernd Posselt, ‘any state that denies Ukraine vital air defence systems and ammunition is aiding and abetting genocide by omission’. In addition to the establishment of a European Defence Union and the eastward expansion of the EU and NATO, ‘preventive diplomacy that avoids conflicts at an early stage through clarity and realism is also necessary for a future peace order.’
Prof Mislav Ježić from the Croatian Academy of Sciences, International Vice-President of the Pan-European Union, fascinated the audience with a comparative analysis of the concept of peace and the peace work of the Indian state founder Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the Pan-European movement, Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, and the leader of the Croatian Peasant Party, Stjepan Radić, who was murdered by a Serbian nationalist in 1928. All three were peace fighters in the century of world wars.
The historian and political scientist Prof Ihor Zhaloba, President of the Pan-European Union Ukraine, conveyed the greetings of his comrades with whom he had recently been at the front: ‘It is very important for them that what is happening in Ukraine is noticed and understood here.’
- Programme (DE) (PDF)
- Press release (DE) (PDF)