One Day Europe Will be One, for Real (part 3) From the Project ‘Friends in a Cold Climate’
dinsdag 02 juli 2024 – Jean-Francois: “It is not an economic war between the two states. It is a mutual comprehension. And if we have the possibility to explain that, it is very important. But with the new movement, extreme right, and this movement, which are to say, French from French people, we have no connection with the other. It is not at all a good solution. We must continue all together. We countries must continue all together.
Jean-Francois has been deputy mayor and consular of Vienne, France, since 40 years. at the age of 16, Jean-Francois began his involvement with the Comité Jumelage, the twinning committee in Vienne which is focused on international exchanges. The roots of these exchanges trace back to 1956 when mayors Dieter Roser of Esslingen and Lucien Hussel of Vienne decided to collaborate, marking a pivotal moment after two devastating wars. They recognized the need to connect with young people as a means of securing a peaceful future, breaking the cycle of war that had occurred every 30 years.
“Since 1956, the first connection with Esslingen, Vienne has been friends. It’s a long way. And each mayor has continued and perpetuated the jumelage and the contact with Europe. This is very important. The idea of people in France is it’s always Germany who is leader in Europe. And some people say that it is not normal. I say and, a lot of people have the same opinion, that it is very important for us to have politics and a government, the two governments, work all together, hand in hand, because we have no other possibility.”
“It is not an economic war between the two states. It is a mutual comprehension. And if we have the possibility to explain that, it is very important. But with the new movement, extreme right, and this movement, which are to say, French from French people, we have no connection with the other. It is not at all a good solution. We must continue all together. We countries must continue all together. Can you imagine that the extreme right movement, when they are in a city to be mayor, they say, The city for the city. Don’t see the other. When you are election for department, they say, “I speak only for my department, not the other. When they try to have the region, they say only my region, the other.”
“And when they postulate the idea to be president of French Republic, they say we don’t look outside, we want only France, industry in France, no connection with the other. Can you imagine that? It is absolutely the great risk of democracy and the great risk of war. Mitterrand, François Mitterrand, said always, if extreme right are in the government, in the possibility to go as the leading force, it is a war in a few years after. ”
“And Mitterrand was a great historian. François Mitterrand has known the war. He knows everything, everything of the war. He knows the atrocities of the war. He knows this moment which shouldn’t return. And Mitterrand was really clever, very clever, when he said, “No extreme right. If you have extreme right, you have war. ”
For the complete interview from the interview project Friends in a Cold Climate see: https://doi.org/10.17026/SS/IOMK6R