For his first official visit outside his country, the new Austrian president, Alexander Van der Bellen, made a strong speech in favour of the European Union to MEPs in Strasbourg on Tuesday 14 February. He spoke of how he had beaten his opponent from the far right, Norber Hofer, by basing his campaign on the values of the EU.
Recalling his origins, with his mother being Estonian and his father Russian, Van der Bellen, who is a member of the Greens, described himself as a combination of "happy circumstances", rather like the European Union is today. He called for the European idea to be defended, because it "is worth all the trouble".
In his preamble, Van der Bellen underlined that it is possible both "to love your country" and to love Europe. He warned against the current "fashionable" trends, which say that a choice must be made between the two. Choosing between "the needs of your fellow-citizens and those of others" is a choice that "leads us to deadlock", he said, adding that "you can live in your homeland and love the European idea, and you can help your compatriots and help others".
He told MEPs of his "trust in European strength", saying that it was important "to campaign for Europe rather than leaving the ground to Europhobes". "We will settle nothing with nationalism - quite the opposite, we will create new problems", he warned.
Stating that Europeans should be proud of knowing how to build peace and mutual respect, Van der Bellen called on today's politicians not to destroy the European ideal but to preserve it for younger generations. "It only takes a few minutes to cut down a tree, but it takes decades to make it grow back", he said.
Van der Bellen then warned against the tactics of division coming from third countries – division aiming to weaken the EU's power of negotiation. At this point he mentioned the great weakness of negotiation for member states that might be tempted to act individually. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)