New walls and borders ” “that interrogate Europe ” “

Borders to be crossed, walls to be torn down, new obstacles to be overcome: the history of European integration is marked by challenges and cyclical problems that accompany the tormented process regarding the unity of populations and States in the old Continent. The events of the past weeks confirm it. A few days after the failed referendum for Scotland’s independence Catalonia advanced its claims, calling for a referendum to be held on November 9 that would warrant Spain’s secession. On several occasions Madrid’s government intervened to discourage a similar initiative by Artur Mas, president of the Catalan region. Now also the high Court of Spain took a stand: the referendum aimed at erecting a border (by paradox, on the day marking the 25th anniversary since the fall of the Berlin Wall) and divide the Country would be an attack against the Constitution, and in a broader sense, against the Iberian nation. The request put forward by Mas and by a large portion of Catalan population represent- within a bundle of historical, cultural and linguistic diversities – traditional economic demands as well as a certain degree of fiscal egoism. Various interventions from Brussels were aimed at discouraging the initiative: the European Union, as it had already done for Scotland, reiterated that in the case of separation Catalonia would be out of Europe, out of the euro, of the single market, and without the possibility of accessing ever-welcome Community funding. The “Common home” fears these independentist initiatives given their intrinsic value and for the immediate consequences that could ensue, and most importantly it fears a risk of a “contagion” to other regions already in a state of unrest, from Hungary to Italy, from Romania to Ireland, to the Balkans. Perhaps the case of Ukraine was not a lesson for all: secessionisms, nationalisms, and claims of compensation often escalate into conflicts. It was the case of Bosnia-Herzegovina, which on October 12 will go to the polls for national elections in a climate of division and suspicion; a legacy of the bloody war of the 1990s, which despite the Dayton agreements has never reached a definitive solution. Also the case of Scotland leaves a trail of lessons in its wake. The positive aspects include increased autonomy that London will have to grant to Edinburgh, promised to voters in the North of Hadrian’s Wall to shun a plebiscite-vote in favour of secession. As if to say that the people’s voice was echoed loudly, thereby obtaining a result, albeit partial. Conversely, it can be imagined that also the other regions of the UK – England, Wales, Northern Ireland – might want to make the same claim of autonomy, thereby affecting cohesion and solidarity at national level, unless a shared federalization process begins. The question is: if this attitude should grow among the British population then how will they vote in the referendum tabled by Premier Cameron for 2017 – in case he is re-elected – to decide on the United Kingdom’s permanence in the EU? In other words, Scotland remains with London, but will London remain in the EU? It could be remarked that these reflections highlight elements of divisions compared to all those elements which instead unite European countries today. Nonetheless, the preliminary elections of the French Senate signalled yet another victory for the Front National of Marine Le Pen, another “preacher” of nationalism and of the ruin of Community Europe. How many similar positions are heard across the four corners of the continent? In all likelihood the political leadership and European citizens have not learned the lesson of the – non catastrophic although alarming – results of the recent European Parliament elections. From this angle can be read the surging signs of attention of the Catholic Church vis a vis the integration process. The issue was discussed during the European Catholic Social Days in Madrid (September 18-21); the question is bound to re-emerge during the plenary Assembly of the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe in Rome (October 2-4). For the same reasons the visit of Pope Francis in Strasbourg (November 25) is awaited with great anticipation. On that occasion Bergoglio will address the representatives of 500 million European citizens at the European Parliament, namely, the institution supposed to give a voice to the peoples of the continent.