Oct 9, 2026, 8:21 PMSometimes I feel like I am only bashing on the EU, especially the @EUCommission and the European Council.
It's not completely untrue but it's because I want - need - the EU to do better. To live up to its own promise and act in accordance with its own values. To take pride in who we are, or have become (cuz the past...). To believe in our strength.
To recognise the miracle that the EU actually is. When you learn its history and the general history of Europe the EU seems impossible. And yet, here we are.
There's nothing like it in the world.
Europe has everything it needs except the determination, will and confidence. There is no sense of urgency but a staunch refusal to recognise the crisis we're in. If Europe does not change course, and does so decisively and with vigour, I fear for our future.
The people are ready, polling shows this again and again. Now it's on our leaders and every day they wait - and it's been years if not decades - they play into the hands of those who want to divide and destroy us, right here at home and abroad.
Visionary, compassionate leadership is what we need. Not a manager class pandering to cheap sentiment and corporate interests. Not leaders who fail to understand that the European interest is the national interest.
Leadership that appeals to new countries, welcomes them as equals and proudly presents a compelling future within the EU. Leadership that can bring back an old friend.
I love Europe, I really do, even if Europe isn't always kind to me and has in fact done me significant harm. Perhaps Stockholm should be my city, but as long as it isn't...
If you've never seen it, this is the preamble of the Treaty on European Union, better known as the Maastricht Treaty. It is the founding document of the EU and was signed in 1992. This is the Europe I believe in. I wish our leaders did as well.
Almost 35 years later quite a bit of this has actually been achieved. More than you might think.
What we miss is the 'unity by heart' also professed in the treaty, the sense that we are not just nationals of our respective countries but Europeans too. That we're in this together.
The next step - the spirit of the treaty is not one of stagnation - should be taken today because we didn't yesterday. Sadly, going by current sentiments, we're not even taking it tomorrow.
You can find the text of the treaty here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:11992M/TXT
