From a European point of view that is ours, the G8 of Genoa provided two confirmations:
1) regarding globalisation, Europe increasingly defends stances that correspond to its values, without hesitating from distancing itself on the occasion from the United States. On most subjects, European countries now form a coherent and sufficiently compact block. Participation of the presidents of the European Commission and EU Council alongside representatives of four Member States is not even noticed, so natural is it;
2) European stances on the whole correspond to most demands made by protest movements, in that they are positive and constructive. It's with Europe and through Europe that these demands may be satisfied. Only ignorance and bad faith may misunderstand that reality and lead protesters to regard Europe as an enemy.
An insult to the unfortunate. Clearly, nothing has been secured. The pressure of political forces, of certain groups representing public opinion and what we call "civil society" in general remains essential, but Europe is increasingly in the vanguard for environmental protection, aid to the third world, the opening up of international trade to poor countries and all that may be summarised by the expression "controlled globalisation". It is abhorrent that protests should have occurred in the streets against the European Summit of Gothenburg where the EU was deciding (to use the words of a large newspaper) "on the greatest ecological turning point ever attempted in the industrial era" (see this section dated 21 June). Without being perfect, far from it, it's the European model that has helped in the decline of the death penalty, which acts in concrete ways to eradicate famine, which fights for fair social standards throughout the world. At a time when Europe is moving towards the definition of its model of society and is trying to have it known to and shared in the world, violent groups are trying to oppose it. It seems to me obvious that the enemies of a fairer and more liveable world are the violent ones who use all means at their disposal to destroy democracy, freedom, peace there where - imperfectly of course - these exist. Their attacks on Europe and its institutions are an insult to all the unfortunate people that risk their lives daily to reach European shores, to those women held in slavery, condemned by law to ignorance and misery, often sexually mutilated at a very early age, for whom European civilisation is an undreamed of goal. In Genoa, some thousands of thugs representing nothing and no one distorted the message of 200,000 peaceful protesters.
Children of the wealthy West. Seeing the violent groups in action in Genoa, former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato observed that they were all "children of the wealthy West". There was no third-world representative amongst them. The genuine poor do not destroy the fruits of human fatigue, do not set fire to cars and other signs of well-being to which they aspire. The destructive rage that we saw in action in Genoa was pure and simple fascism, certain groups even having taken on the appearance of nazis, with their brown shirts and their "killers of the Klu Klux Clan"-type headgear, armed with iron bars to hit and destroy. The international public only had a partial view of the reality, as only minor Italian television stations continued the reports after the end of the Summit, and showed the reality of the destruction in a noble and ancient city, the despair of the victims, women crying; all people belonging to the genuine European people, workers and peaceful.
After the end of nazism and fascism, we the older generation, swore: never again in Europe. Today, freedom and peace are guaranteed, and the borders between European countries have been abolished. But the fight must continue against retrograde forces. Firstly, the terrorists obliged the police to come out in strength and airport controls to be introduced. Now, we must suspend the Schengen Agreements as the violent fringes want to use them for criminal purposes. This is inadmissible.
Europe must therefore fight on two fronts at the same time. It has to complete, strengthen and act upon its vision of the future of the world and defend it internationally, speaking with poor countries and with organisations representing civil society and public opinion. At the same time, it has to crush the new fascism that wants to reintroduce violence and destruction as political method in our countries. But without dramatising the situation more than need be. Each new generation conceals a violent fringe; a few years later we find the best of them as MEPs, foreign ministers even. But there are also those that have nothing other that destructive rage and who are fascists in their soul. We don't discuss with them.
(F.R.)