Peace in Europe is needed and possible. It is the basis of stability, the goal of security and a precondition for prosperity.
On May 9, 1950, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman devised a plan to create the European Coal and Steel Community as an offer to defeated Germany and other countries. It was a surprise to many, an illusion to others. Communists attacked Schuman as a traitor to France. The peaceful interests of the perpetual enemies prevailed by linking the production and trade of commodities essential for the economy and for waging war. They had repeatedly exterminated millions of soldiers and civilians over three-quarters of a century. During the next 75 years, this peace community grew into a 27-member European Union with a single market and a common currency.
The process of forming a peaceful Europe remained unfinished. The common European house, often mentioned by Schuman and later by Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, has not been built. We have a bloody, tragic war in Europe again, launched by the invasion of Russia into Ukraine in February 2022.
Let us remember that three European conflicts in the 20th century became global: World War I, World War II and the Cold War. The West won the Cold War but did not win peace. Ukraine and the collective West are not winning over Russia. Immense damage and long-term consequences are growing daily. Many describe it as a proxy war between the U.S. and the Russian Federation carried out in Ukraine. For more than 10 years, there has been a second cold war.
Calls are voiced from the capitals of Western Europe to increase armaments, re-arm Europe and increase defense spending. This shift will not strengthen indebted states and weakened economies. With a deterrence policy, we may win or draw in this second cold war, but we will surely not win peace.
The principles of the Schuman Declaration have not been exhausted. Seventy-five years ago, France and Germany initiated the peace vision in Europe. Today, it is a challenge for the two biggest nuclear powers in our civilizational space. With President Trump’s inauguration and Republican majorities in Congress, U.S. decisions are quick, some surprising. Concerning Ukraine, they are strongly focused on ending the war. Russia signals its interest in dialogue and new relations with the U.S.
Peace is in the interests of nations that persist and must shoulder the hardships of war and the burden of human losses. Countries and borders change in wars, but the most valuable are people. The value of a person goes beyond material dimensions. Therefore, it is important to seek the end of devastation by seeking a new quality of relations, respecting the dignity of each person, family, nation and community. This is not about leaders — Messrs. Trump, former President Joseph R. Biden, Russian leader Vladimir Putin or Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Leaders are mortal; they come and go. But leaders can make a great deal happen for their people.
The dialogue between the U.S. and Russia has started. It should focus on key commodities and resources for the conduct of conflict and war: energy, natural resources, information technologies and protection of intellectual property. Including said resources and commodities and related infrastructure into common markets should also be open to other countries. The founding of these common markets will boost the economic growth and competitiveness of participating countries.
New markets will connect Alaska with the Kamchatka Peninsula through Europe and Central Asia. The Northern Hemisphere community will span three continents, with Europe in the center. This will create the largest multinational potential focused on peaceful cooperation and represent a great deal for participating nations. It will have a positive impact on other world regions. Such a community will bring unprecedented development to the participating states and economies. It is not against the interests, continuation and better functioning of the European Union. The logical part of such a qualitative change is a shared security architecture, which does not exclude a defense alliance. History and objective interests favor a new action for a more humane 21st century.
Rapprochement and cooperation between the West and the East will take a lot of effort and hard work. This aligns with St. John Paul II’s image of Europe breathing with both lungs: the Western and the Eastern. Today, the West is weakened by new ideologies and ethical relativism, and the East is bleeding in fratricidal conflict.
The crisis may turn into a historical disaster or into a positive way out, a new beginning. Within the framework of a great deal, an acceptable solution for peace in Ukraine, for the return of refugees, and for dynamic and successful reconstruction of the destroyed territories will be found more easily and quickly.
Creative and constructive peace efforts must outweigh extensive warmongering. Therefore, the West needs, above all, more wisdom and courage for a reasonable and responsible policy rather than more money for ammunition and armaments. We need statesmen and leaders who see the big picture and look into the distance to the next generations. Peace, security and prosperity in our civilizational space are possible and achievable.
• Jan Figel is a former European Union commissioner, special envoy and deputy prime minister of Slovakia. He currently serves as the Chair of the Clementy Foundation’s Scientific Committee.
