Aachen, 23 October 2023
‘Check against delivery’
Mayor Keupen,
Professor Müller,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am delighted to be with all of you here in this splendid hall. The Aachener Krönungsmahl not only commemorates an important event in the past. It is also a celebration of the civic engagement of the people of Aachen of today.
I am always impressed each time I enter these rooms. I imagine how literally an entire city is setting out to restore this beautiful place, to fill it with music and song once more. People from all backgrounds and walks of life. Aachen was once a city of emperors. By preserving and maintaining the city’s cultural heritage, you have made this place your own. That is a strong symbol. Not only for Aachen and for Germany. But for the whole of Europe. The message coming from this place is a message of democracy and of active responsibility for the common good. I would like to thank you for that.
When I look at these mighty cross vaults and paintings, I think of the history of our continent. Europe was once the birthplace of empires. One of the most important was founded in this very hall. Magnificent structures like this are witness stones of those empires. But we know all too well that their history was also associated with subjugation and immense suffering.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I think that we all have similar feelings these days. We are reminded once again of the darkest chapters of the history of this continent. We know that the fighting continues every day in Ukraine. And then the pictures reach us of the latest crisis area in the Middle East. Many of these conflicts have one thing in common. They are about the struggle between those who seek peace, compromise and cooperation and those who don’t want any of those things because they do not recognise the right of neighbouring nations to exist. On 7 October Israel suffered the worst terrorist attack in its history. The worst mass murder of Jews since the Shoah.
I was in Israel, on the Kfar Aza kibbutz, just over a week ago. At dawn on 7 October Hamas terrorists attacked the small settlement. I saw houses burned down, high chairs soaked with blood, toys that no child will ever touch again, rubble, bullet holes, shrapnel, cartridge cases, wherever you looked. For decades Kfar Aza was a flourishing kibbutz of 750 people. Today it is a ghost town. The Hamas terrorists went from house to house. They burned people alive. They mutilated children and babies. They forced the elderly out of their homes. And why? Because these people were Jews. Because they lived in the state of Israel.
The declared aim of Hamas is to eradicate all Jewish life in the Holy Land. And Israel therefore has the legitimate right to defend itself, in accordance with international and humanitarian law.
I have been to Israel several times, but this visit was different. Last week I saw a nation which had been shaken to the core. I spoke to families of people taken hostage, to President Herzog, to Prime Minister Netanyahu and members of the unity government. They want just one thing from us: solidarity and clear words. That is the least we can do for them. Our duty is now to stand up and nail our colours to the mast. Terror of that kind can never be justified. We are firmly committed to protecting Jewish life. Violence against Jews and anti-Semitism have no place in our world. Not now, not ever.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Palestinians are also suffering under the terror of Hamas. And that is what I was talking to President Abbas about on the phone earlier. It is no contradiction to stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel and to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza. And that is what we are doing. We have tripled our humanitarian aid. We are also standing by our position for a regional peace with a two-state solution.
Additionally, we are doing our utmost to strengthen our diplomacy in the region. Because if the violence spills over to other countries, then Hamas will have achieved its goal. Above all, it wants to torpedo the historic rapprochement between Israel and its Arab neighbours. Behind Hamas is Iran, which has absolutely no interest in peace in the region. On the contrary, Iran’s plan is to stir up violence and chaos, because that secures its influence. Three days ago, an American warship in the Red Sea intercepted 12 cruise missiles aimed at Israel, fired from Yemen, a country which is dirt poor but allied with Iran. Russia is also in close military cooperation with Iran, which supplies the drones used by Putin to attack the civilian population of Ukraine.
President Zelenskyy is right to compare Russia with Hamas. Both target innocent people. They kill civilians or force them from their homes as hostages. The destruction of infrastructure is intended, first and foremost, to terrorise the population. Breaking all the rules, denying the right of a nation to exist – that is Putin’s declared policy towards Ukraine. In 2014 he annexed Crimea. Then he placed the conflict on ice, waiting for the right moment to attack Ukraine again. But he did not anticipate the impressive resilience of Ukraine, which has now been fighting for its freedom and self-determination for over 600 days. It is fighting for the very survival of its democracy.
We can never match the courage and determination of Ukraine. But what we can do, as democracies, is to stand firmly by its side. And that is exactly what we are doing. Europe will give Ukraine unprecedented support for as long as necessary. Let me mention just three figures. Eleven packages of sanctions against Russia. More than 83 billion euro in military and humanitarian aid. More than 4 million women, children and elderly people who have fled Putin’s bombs have found refuge with us in the EU. We are financing heavy weaponry so that Ukraine can defend itself. None of that has ever happened before in the history of the European Union. But now we are taking these steps, because we know how high the stakes are. And that is why many private individuals are organising consignments of aid for the people in Ukraine – including here in Aachen. And I thank you for that.
The brave men and women of Ukraine deserve our solidarity. Every day they are not only standing up to the Russian aggressor; they are reforming their country. They are strengthening the rule of law. They are modernising their governance. They are highly digitalised. And they are doing all of this in the midst of a war. As President Zelenskyy always reminds me, there is an overarching reason for all this. As he tells me: the soldiers in the trenches, the women and children in bunkers, the volunteers risking their lives near the front line to bring food and medicine to the elderly and the sick – there is one thing motivating them all to keep going: the dream of Europe. The hope that the next generation will grow up in a country which is a member of the European Union. They have been fighting for this since 2014, since shots rang out in Maidan Square because demonstrators were waving the blue flags of the EU.
The people of Ukraine know that accession requires perseverance and extensive reform. But if Ukraine doesn’t let up, then for me it is clear: the future of Ukraine is in the European Union.
Ladies and gentlemen,
This longing for Europe is something I have witnessed not only in Ukraine. I have seen it also in Moldova and in the candidate countries of the Western Balkans. It is a reflection, too, of everything we have achieved over 70 years in our European Union. Peace, freedom, prosperity. We should be proud of this.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Russia’s attack on a neighbouring sovereign country, the rise of movements holding our democracy in contempt, barbaric violence against people of Jewish faith, men, women and children. These recent events appear before us like ghosts from a distant past. It was only a little over 70 years ago that Europe chose a different path after centuries of war and conflict. Not because it was forced to, but because it chose to. The men and women of war-torn Europe opted for something unprecedented: a union of free peoples and countries. United in democracy. A community in which all nations determine their future themselves and shape that future together. And our continent has been striving for this ideal for over 70 years, relentlessly, one step at a time. And then came 24 February 2022. The day when Russian tanks rolled across the border into Ukraine. Like in days of old, two sets of beliefs suddenly clashed in the heart of Europe. The question, again, is what kind of continent do we wish to leave for our children? A continent forged by the right of might or one shaped by the free will of its people? Today, once again, we hear the call of history. It is a call to us all.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I was here when President Zelenskyy was awarded the Charlemagne Prize. Half of the city was out in the streets. There were blue and yellow balloons everywhere, cheering, Ukrainian flags. Aachen sent out to the world a poignant picture of European unity and solidarity. And I know that there’s so much more of that. You have taken in Ukrainian students here in Aachen and supported them with scholarships. And last spring, you entered into a partnership with the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv. You are supporting the people of Chernihiv in reconstruction and rebuilding their lives. Aachen’s famous universities are contributing technical expertise so that a new Chernihiv can rise from the ashes of war. A municipality powered by clean energy, with better infrastructure, mobility and a forward-looking circular economy. A modern European city. I have visited Ukraine several times since the beginning of the war. I know very well what this means to the people there. And I would like to thank you wholeheartedly for this admirable commitment. Because there is one right response to this historic challenge. And that response is: we are on the side of freedom, peace and democracy. We want to leave our children and grandchildren a Europe in which the people are in charge, not the autocrats.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The story of our Community began with just six Member States. Our long-term objective was always one day to unite the entire European family. For a long time it seemed an illusory goal. But it is clearly in Europe’s strategic and security interest to complete our Union. Russia’s war is not just about Ukraine. Russia is also trying to destabilise the Republic of Moldova and the Western Balkan countries. It is about Europe’s geopolitical position in a world where size and weight also play a role.
This has worked very well in economic terms. The 20 years since the major enlargement of 2004 have been an unprecedented economic and political success story. The larger single market has improved the lives of millions of people. Experience shows that in a bigger Union we not only share our prosperity but increase it many times over. However, the crises we were just talking about also show that Europe needs to expand and strengthen its capabilities. We need a Europe that speaks with one voice on foreign policy. We need to strengthen our common defence to be better able to protect the people of Europe and our European interests. And, of course, this Union needs a budget and decision-making structures commensurate with its ever-growing tasks.
These are some of the issues we now need to tackle. After all, we rightly demand a lot from our candidate countries. By the same token, the European Union must also prepare for the time when they have met the strict criteria and carried out their reforms. Because we all long to further unite the European family and to make it better.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Now is the time for us to bravely take our destiny into our own hands. It is up to us to make the dream of Europe’s founding fathers come true. Today we hear the call of history once more. It is directed at all of us. We can all help our Europe find the right answers.
Thank you and long live Europe!
Source – EU Commission