The European Union is a political entity born from an era unlike anything that came before it. Europe is a continent with a distinctive geography and a human composition that has moved throughout history and across geography, driven by winds that were sometimes calm and at other times violent and bloody. Religious conflicts, wars of expansion, and empires unconstrained by borders and never satisfied with the wealth of neighboring or distant lands. On this continent, which has its own particular character among the world's continents, minds awakened early to philosophy and science, across its history and its lands. It was there that the spark of reason was struck, and its light did not cease to shine throughout the centuries. Meanwhile, peoples on other continents lived in darkness and became accustomed to it, enduring life in a state of dark ignorance, as minds hardened and human capabilities weakened.
Europe paid the price for its rise and progress. Clergymen, philosophers, and thinkers rebelled against the ecclesiastical priesthood that constrained reason, thought, and creativity, and many paid with their lives for the Renaissance and progress. On their bodies, bridges were built toward a new era for humanity. The peoples of Europe entered the world of industry, ushering in their colonial era, during which they seized the lands of other countries that possessed the agricultural and mineral resources necessary for industrialization. Industry became an added source of human power. Yet wars among the countries of the continent itself never disappeared for long before erupting again and again. The First and Second World Wars were the terrible alarm bell that awakened Europe and set it on a path toward a new era. European intellectual and political voices proclaimed the choice: either unity or war. When reason guides human beings through the complexities of life, with all its greed and fear, realism prevails. Differences become a source of strength, while mutual concessions and compromises become a means of consolidating peace, cooperation, and coexistence in a world that aspires to achieve the joy of life.
After World War II, the United States emerged as a financial, military, and political power. On Europe's western flank, a communist ideological power also emerged, led by the Soviet Union, with its formidable military strength, vast geographical territory, and expanding influence around the world. The European political leaders who had led their countries during World War II against the Nazi-fascist Axis realized that their only safeguard was unity. The journey toward unity began in 1951 with the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community. Cooperation among its member states then expanded into the economic sphere through the creation of the European Common Market, based on common principles among its members: democracy, free trade, and economic cooperation, while communist and dictatorial states were excluded. Greece, Portugal, and Spain were not allowed to join the community until after their respective dictatorships had fallen. In 1993, following the signing of the Maastricht Treaty and the implementation of the Schengen Agreement, the European Union came into being. Today, it comprises 27 countries. It is a confederal entity with a government, parliament, federal central bank, and a single currency, the euro, while each member state retains its own government and national parliament, as well as its own central bank and national army.
Building this giant entity took 40 years, through the power of reason, realism, and the transparent awareness of its peoples. It was not built on the slogan of "European nationalism," the mobilizing speeches of leaders, or the violence of authoritarianism. In recent days, tens of thousands of Moroccans rushed into Ceuta, a part of their country under Spanish occupation. Right-wing political voices in some European Union countries rose to warn of an influx of these migrants into other EU countries, taking advantage of freedom of movement among member states under the Schengen Agreement.
The loudest of these voices was that of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who called for a review of Italy's relationship with Spain regarding the Schengen Agreement. Some believed that the incident threatened the European Union itself. The phenomenon of irregular migration, in which thousands of people travel from Africa to Europe through Spain, Italy, and Greece, is a concern across Europe. But there are facts that cannot be ignored. Europe needs foreign workers because of declining birth rates in most of its countries. Italy, which criticized what it described as Spain's leniency toward irregular migration, received 500,000 migrants over the past five years, twice the number received by Spain, which took in 220,000 migrants. Today, in Italian cities, the majority of workers at gas stations, in street cleaning, cafes, restaurants, and other sectors are Asians and Africans. Some have even joined the police force.
Those who believe that a dispute between two or more European leaders can destroy what their predecessors built over many decades, and what their peoples endorsed through transparent referendums, fail to understand the strength of what political minds can build and the awareness of educated peoples. The four freedoms that the European Union has secured for its citizens, freedom of movement, residence, employment, and the movement of goods among its member states, have transformed this giant entity into a broad space that cannot easily be weakened. The reality that cannot be ignored is that the European political system places its disagreements on the negotiating table, where every idea is presented, leading to an understanding founded on mutual agreements and concessions, with differences becoming a source of strength that serves the interests of its peoples. In other countries, wars have erupted because of a soccer match. Elsewhere, countries have severed relations over an article in a newspaper, a song broadcast on the radio, or a speech delivered by a leader.
Underdevelopment is a plague, and ignorance is the enemy of life and victory. During World War I, the Ottoman Sultan summoned the members of the Chamber of Deputies and told them: "Send the jurists to read the hadiths of Sahih al-Bukhari aboard the warships." The Iraqi poet Ma'ruf al-Rusafi, a member of the chamber, replied: "Your Majesty, the warships run on steam, not Bukhari." The Sultan expelled him, but defeat came nonetheless.
