Europe must completely renew itself if Europe is to remain Europe, if we want to preserve European unity, Antal Rogán, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office said at the inauguration of the road named after Konrad Adenauer in Budapest and the Adenauer bust in Városliget on Wednesday.
Mr Rogán highlighted at the inauguration of the bust of the former German politician, the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany: Europe has been compelled to renew itself several times during the course of its history of two thousand years, and it has always been able to accomplish that as a pledge of its survival. These revivals have always represented a return to the original Christian values, and this is something that Adenauer himself knew, he added.
The Minister pointed out: Europe’s renewal was never about a need for new moral and cultural roots instead of our Christian roots. This does not mean, however, that everyone should be a Christian believer as faith is not something that can be imposed. But in this civilisation, even atheists are Christian, at least in a cultural sense, he explained. Mr Rogán reiterated: Adenauer took the view that Europe will either be Christian or not at all. The Minister believes that this is something we cannot forget at the present time either, and European civilisation has always played a leading role in the world because it has relied on Christian traditions, and has always returned to its Christian roots. At the same time, several, mainly left-wing parties have recently turned their backs on three fundamental values: work, family and the nation, he said.
He took the view that those who believe that Europe can be united despite the nations it is comprised of have learnt nothing from history. While the resolution of the current migration crisis lies in European unity, it certainly does not lie in forced uniform measures, the quota system imposed on the countries from above. Instead the solution should be sought in the joint protection of our borders, he pointed out.
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The Minister said: the bust now inaugurated preserves the memory of a man who was one of the few in the realm of politics whose entire life and work earned him undivided recognition on the part of posterity; one of the few politicians who rendered a truly historic performance. Europe has been afflicted by a series of crises for seven years now, and it is no coincidence that Europe is turning its attention to Adenauer as he understood with perfect clarity at the time of another grave European crisis that Europe must radically renew itself because a new kind of European unity may be the pledge of long-term peace, he said. Mr Rogán added: the message of this newly erected bust is that Europe must follow this path, and must completely renew itself, but it is not irrelevant how this is achieved.
Hans-Gert Pöttering, former President of the European Parliament and Chairman of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation highlighted: Brussels is not a new Moscow. The European Union is an experiment, as part of which 28 countries and 500 million people cooperate on the foundations of the rule of law. The EU is based on the law and represents the power of the law; this is how the Member States are heading towards a common future.
The future of Europe is about the foundations of freedom and democracy, and the EU is unity in its diversity, he said. He added: if the EU fails, everyone fails because the common path is the only path for the countries of Europe.
As the Chairman pointed out, one must never forget that Germany’s unity is owing to the Central-European peoples’ desire for freedom. This experience must be preserved, despite any dispute that may arise between the countries, he pointed out.
Hans-Gert Pöttering stated: there are majority decisions in the EU, and this must be accepted, but the views of the smaller countries must be taken into consideration under any circumstances. Regarding the migration crisis, he pointed out: human dignity is the basis of everything. The majority of Muslims are peaceful people, and it would not be good if the impression was created that the EU defends itself against refugees with water cannon and barbed wire. At the same time, we cannot take in everyone who is in a difficult situation, he said. In his view, we must talk about how the EU’s external borders should be protected. We must also distinguish between those who are fleeing political persecution and those who are coming to Europe for economic reasons. We must find, nonetheless, a common European solution, he said.
Mária Schmidt, Director General of the House of Terror Museum reiterated: by the end of World War II, Germany was on the verge of destruction, and therefore Konrad Adenauer undertook an enormous task upon pledging to rebuild his country. He had to find the country’s place in the world which had turned bipolar in the interim, and to this end, he renewed the German system of political institutions, rendered democracy operational in Germany, made the economic and political environment predictable, and kick-started the economy, she listed.
As the Director General said, the former Chancellor played a key role in the establishment of the EU as well, and the European Union envisaged by him meant “the common Europe of free nation states”. Mária Schmidt believes that Adenauer was a successful politician by any standard. He was characterised by “an excellent sense of diplomacy, determination and vision”. It was his goal to keep the hope of the reunification of Germany alive. The former Chancellor held freedom in the highest esteem, understood “its indispensable significance”, and knew that only free and self-conscious German citizens may render his country successful and proud, she pointed out.
Frank Spengler, the head of the representation of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Hungary said: today we remember one of the founder fathers of Europe, a great European statesman. The inauguration of the bust is a call to future generations to continue Adenauer’s work, the realisation of European unity in peace and freedom, he stated, and added: Adenauer always said that Europe will one day become a big common house, the house of freedom.
After the ceremony, a reception was held in the House of Terror Museum under the auspices of the Public Foundation for the Research of Central and Eastern European History and Society, the Foundation for a Civic Hungary and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
Konrad Adenauer was the founder chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. The fundamental measures adopted during his chancellorship (1949-1963) determine to this day the internal structure and foreign policy orientation of the Federal Republic of Germany.
(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister / MTI)
