The fears of Eastern Europe ” “

How many countries are there in Europe? Fifteen, replies a group of students. It’s an error often repeated: that of confusing the European Union with the 47 countries of the old continent. The point is made by Annelise Oeschger, describing her experience as a teacher and delegate to the Council of Europe of the international movement Aid to the Fourth World, an NGO founded by Joseph Wresinski in a bidonville in Paris in 1957. United Europe, Europe as a “common home”, also depends on schools, universities, the media. The consciousness of this has inspired the recently held “European Weeks of Communication 2002”, organized by the Catholic University of Lyons, with the participation of a group of young journalists and professionals in communication, many of them from central and eastern Europe. These are weeks of ‘itinerant’ formation, from Strasbourg (seat of the European Parliament, Council of Europe and European Court of Human Rights) to Scy-Chazelles (birthplace of Robert Schuman, one of the founding fathers of Europe) and then Lyons. In the forefront of discussion: the question of enlargement, a term that the countries of Eastern Europe don’t like very much, says Roja Thun, president of the Robert Schuman Foundation in Poland, “no less than they do ‘entry'”. The sensibilities of Eastern Europe need – he said – to be fostered “if we want to construct a Europe of 480 million citizens”. “Eurobarometer”. “49% of the inhabitants of the 15 countries of the EU consider enlargement to the East positive. And no less than 59% of those who live in the ‘candidate’ countries are positively motivated”, says François Boursier, professor of history at the Catholic University of Lyons, commenting on the results of a survey conducted in March. “But 83% of those interviewed in EU countries consider themselves little informed about the candidate countries, 44% think that Europe should be enlarged only to some of them, and 14% don’t want any new members at all”, continues Boursier. “There are signs of fear and disquiet, as demonstrated by the 58% who say yes to enlargement but without any financial aid or investment”. This is a contradiction if we consider that Europe was founded on the principle of solidarity and subsidiarity. And what about attitudes in Eastern Europe? “65% of the electors of the candidate countries would have voted for membership”. The young seem to be enthusiastic about it, but the reality is far more complex”, insist the journalists of central and eastern Europe. Ten candidate countries (Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Hungary) will join the EU in 2004. Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey will remain outside for the time being. European identity. “We can say that we live in Europe, we are in Europe, we are part of Europe, but we don’t know what is meant by ‘being European'”, notes the political philosopher Bruno-Marie Duffé, director of the institute of human rights at the Catholic University of Lyons. “The avenues of work are three: sense of belonging, memory and solidarity. Having an identity is having new criteria to recount our roots, our fundamental values, and having a plan for the future, a project, a system of reciprocal bonds”. That means communicating a new sense of belonging, though without running the risk of “being contemplatives of Europe, aesthetes of Europe”, as Ian Patocka, Czech philosopher, wrote in 1973. Ethnic minorities. “In Europe, and especially in Eastern Europe, there are countries that have not had enough time to construct their own identity and assimilate the various communities”, argues Yoseph Yacoub, historian, expert in ethnic minorities and professor at the Catholic University of Lyons. “These countries have failed to exploit the internal and external factors to keep united the communities present within them. Co-existence in some cases can no longer be achieved. Each community has its own uniqueness and fears to lose it. Recently in the news has been the case of the 55,000 Russians in Latvia who have been refused citizenship and are without papers. “The countries of Eastern Europe have a lot to say to the West about identity, respect for memory, suffering, and the sense of belonging”, concludes Yacoub. And he adds: “Europe risks becoming abstract and a victim of amnesia. It may enrich itself by opening up to the East”. Valentina Conte