By Ian A. Palko Hoya Staff Writer
Europe is on its path from confederation to union, according to Joschka Fischer, foreign minister and vice chancellor of Germany.
Fischer addressed a capacity crowd in Gaston Hall Friday evening, praising the growing U.S.-Europe relations and describing his version of the future of Europe in the third Quandt Distinguished Lecture.
In his speech, Fischer spoke specifically about President William Jefferson Clinton’s (SFS ’68) speech at Georgetown earlier in the month saying, “We welcome President Clinton’s announcement.” Clinton had announced he would defer a decision on a national missile defense system to the next administration.
“[It is] not because we want to deny Americans the right to protect themselves – that would be absurd. Rather because at this stage, this national decision has far-reaching international implications,” he added.
The praise of Clinton’s announcement came toward the end of the lecture during which he described how Europe was moving closer to a union, not just a loose confederation. “Our aim as Europeans is clear: at the end of the decade we want a European Union which is economically and politically integrated,” he said.
Fischer compared the Europe of today to revolutionary America, and according to his analogy, Europe is in the “Federalist Papers” stage. He went on to describe a constitutional debate going on in Europe and compared it to the U.S. Constitution as compared with the earlier Articles of Confederation.
Notwithstanding these comments, he also contrasted the European process with the American.
“In Europe, sovereign nation-states with different languages, cultures and history are trying to form a common political entity,” he said. “This means that the role of the nation-states . will always be different to that of the U.S. federal states.”
Fischer highlighted specific proposals he wanted to see in Europe, as well. Such propositions included a European federal constitution, parliament and a common currency. Internal and external security issues were also on his list of top concerns.
The vice chancellor spoke at length on the current transitions in Europe, briefly citing Germany and how it was the United States and “America’s long-term commitment to Europe” since the end of World War II that returned Germany to the “community of nations.” Fischer also called the events surrounding the war especially the Holocaust, “terrible crimes.”
On the heels of a speech last week by retired Gen. Wesley Clark, former supreme commander of NATO forces, who oversaw the joint NATO initiative in Kosovo, Fischer also spoke about European involvement in the conflict.
“Our joint engagement in the Balkans, Europe’s considerable contribution towards political and economic back-up for the Middle East and our common strategic interest . are examples of the potential of such cooperation,” Fischer said.
The lecture, entitled “Toward a Transatlantic Partnership: The United States, Europe and Germany in an Era of Global Challenges,” emphasized globalization as the major factor for peace in our time and was sponsored the BMW Center for German and European Studies at Georgetown University. The lecture is the beginning of an ongoing celebration of the center’s 10th anniversary.
The lecture series was established in honor of the late Herbert Quandt, who was responsible for the success of BMW. Past speakers have included former German President Roman Herzog and Clinton.
