Europe, anyway!*
The so often quoted European Security Strategy of 2003 contains a now legendary quote: “Europe has never been so prosperous, so secure, nor so free. The violence of the first half of the 20th Century has given way to a period of peace and stability unprecedented in European history.” When I meet my fellow parliamentarians and Europeans, I can almost physically feel that many of us are so much longing to belong to that Europe of 2003 – prosperous, calm and confident. Still recovering from the wounds of the last century, many of us, Latvians would so much want to continue belonging to “Europe of 2003 Security Strategy” so that we can fully consolidate and contemplate our development and progress. However, no longer! Daily we hear that the EU project is close to unraveling, values of solidarity are being contested, the global environment is fragile, internal tensions are mounting. In such a situation we usually search for big words and big thinkers to give us perspective of