We cannot allow free will to be broken by brute force, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said today in a speech at the opening of the new academic year at the College of Europe in Bruges, writes BTA.
When history demands, politics must strive to achieve even the impossible, she insisted. A leader is not one who towers over the people, but one who serves them, von der Leyen added to students from more than 50 countries studying EU history and policies.
What seemed impossible yesterday can happen tomorrow. Europe today is at a new crossroads, as in 1989, a new historical moment for the unification of the continent is coming. The youth of the Western Balkans are eager to join the EU. There is no reason for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to be involved in determining the future of young people in Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. Georgian youth have the right to know what happened this weekend, Georgians must determine their own fate, like the rest of Europe, Von der Leyen said.
According to her, the enlargement of the EU will have an even more central place in her second term at the head of the EC. The chairman of the commission announced that a program will be opened for young diplomats from the countries awaiting EU accession. The cost of an unfinished EU is much greater, she added, citing concerns that as the number of member states increases, costs will rise.