In the last few weeks, images of dramatic scenes have been piped into our homes with perturbing regularity. The upheaval in Ukraine has not only dominated the headlines and monopolised the attention of the people of Europe; it has also moved us deeply. It started with week-long protests and a dramatic struggle for sovereignty in Kiev and then in other parts of the country, and culminated with Russia’s illegal invasion of Crimea, and efforts to separate Crimea from Ukraine and integrate it within the Russian Federation. For a number of reasons, all of this cannot leave us cold. (…)
(Credit: COMECE)
The pro-European commitment in Ukraine and the desire to belong to a political Europe challenge those of us who are already members of the European Union. What sort of commitment to Europe do we have ourselves? In May this year, the elections to the European Parliament will be held, and once again we have to expect weak participation by voters across the EU Member States. This raises the question whether we have not become too tired and lazy to care about the political affairs of Europe – our own political interests! The democratic movement in Ukraine clearly demonstrates to us – once again – that the achievements of our free and democratic Europe cannot be taken for granted, but require the continued support of its citizens and peoples. A few years ago, the Evangelical Church in Germany and the Catholic Church published a joint text entitled “Demokratie braucht Tugenden” (democracy needs virtues) which calls upon citizens to support the community. European democracy, too, needs virtues. We should remind ourselves of this in the context of the forthcoming European elections. (…)