The real danger to Europe? The lost sense of a common cause - Invocation for a Europe of Solidarity

From Munich to Milan, political narratives are driving citizens into ever more separated mindsets. The biggest danger facing Europe isn’t so much Brexit, or even the “populist wave” sweeping the continent. It is the depressing fact that continental Europeans seem to be losing an appetite to even try to understand one another across national and cultural boundaries. Ignoring or even provoking your neighbour has become a new normal as countries become more and more inward looking.

Social media have the potential to connect far and wide, but by now we’ve seen ample proof that algorithms favour confirmation bias, rather than opening up minds to different takes or sensitivities. In Europe’s patchwork of separate political cultures and distinct national memories, that technological backdrop arguably has an even more polarising effect than in the US.

Read more in an article published in the Guardian

The famous German philosopher Jürgen Habermas and five former German ministers and politicians from different parties invoke for a Europe based on solidarity and demand governments to take further steps to consolidate Europe. They call for urgent actions to stop the back drift in nationalism and polarisation and give ideas on how a Europe based on solidarity could look like.

Learn more about the invocation