Matthias Gebauer, Frank Hornig, Paul-Anton Krüger, Steffen Lüdke and Britta Sandberg
Even in dark times, there are dreamers. "United States of Europe NOW” was the motto of recent demonstrations in 20 Italian cities, with marchers waving EU flags. "We aren’t vassals,” called out a participant in Rome. In contrast to the "predators” Trump and Putin, Europe is a great continent, the demonstrator chanted. "We developed democracy.”
That same day, French President Emmanuel Macron flew in a Falcon jet across the English Channel to a crisis summit in London. Above the clouds, he showed a journalist flying with him a map on his phone from the French daily Le Figaro on which U.S. troops stationed in Europe were shown. "The Americans make up 30 percent of NATO,” Macron said. "It will take us 10 years to extricate ourselves from them.”
A strong, resilient Europe that is prepared to defend its liberal, cosmopolitan democracy without the protective power of America: Just a few months ago, this vision would have been dismissed as a pipe dream. These days, though, it is becoming the blueprint for Europe’s future, albeit a desperate one.
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