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Leader of Conservative MEPs expresses profound regret at Commissioner Wallström's remarks
Wednesday May 11, 2005
Margot Wallström's comment that resisting supranational government leads to the horrors of the Nazi occupation of Europe - made during a speech at a former concentration camp at Terezin, Czech Republic, this weekend - is profoundly regrettable and a misguided reading of history, Timothy Kirkhope MEP, leader of the British Conservatives in the European Parliament, said in an open letter to the Vice-President of the European Commission released today.
The speech made by Commissioner Wallström, who is in charge of the Commission's communication and information strategy, argued that politicians who resist pooling national sovereignty risk a return to the horrors of the Nazi era. The speech is on her website at http://europa.eu.int/comm/commission_barroso/wallstrom/index_en.htm.
Mr Kirkhope wrote:
"You suggest that the inter-governmental model of European cooperation leads to the horrors of Europe under Nazi tyranny. Moreover, you suggest that supranational government is the only acceptable model of European cooperation, a premise we dispute. We, like many others in the European Parliament, think that a Union based on nation states working together, rather than federalism, is the most effective and democratic system of cooperation.
"I think you would be the last to suggest that Norway or Switzerland could fall prey to the horrors of the Nazi period simply because they do not participate in the European Union. Moreover, Britain, of all countries, is determined that such atrocities never happen again. Britain stood resolute against the evils of the Third Reich. We remember the sacrifice of British soldiers who laid down their lives for freedom, and that eternal memory strengthens our resolve to resist tyranny wherever it occurs.
"In the light of your comments, it is hardly surprising that millions of people across the European Union are so disillusioned about further European integration, and so resistant to attempts to sell the idea. Your remarks appear to be aimed at scaring people who are opposed to further integration - as embodied in the European Constitution - into accepting it as a fait accompli. We believe a more rational and reasoned debate is appropriate, and according to some recent opinion polls in France and the Netherlands, a majority of voters preparing to cast their ballots in referendums on the Constitution believe so too."
ENDS
