EUROPE

This democratic asylum land, through its spirit and culture, attracts people from all over the world. It's true that we enjoy benefits that seem obvious to us: relative peace, a fairly strong economy, and the freedom to live according to our beliefs, to practise our religion, and to preserve our customs, our language, and our culture, which is not always the case for immigrants in their countries of origin. We also have the freedom to travel, study, and work in other countries practically without restrictions. Border controls have almost been eliminated in the Schengen area, following the agreement signed in 1985 in this Luxembourgish city. With your European passport or a valid European ID card, you can move around in the 27 Schengen states. This is an advantage for cross-border workers, as in 2022 around 1.5 million people lived in one Schengen country and worked in another. As for students, they can enjoy an incredible array of rights to travel, study (Erasmus exchange), and enhance their intellectual and cultural knowledge. No other place in the world grants them such privileges.

Youth are suddenly claiming rights that we, the elders, didn’t even dare to conceive or defend in the streets, even though most of this generation grew up in a relative stability of peace, security, education, and culture. Aware of the danger of advancing technology and the increasingly prominent role of artificial intelligence, which decides our futures as human beings without feelings, I share their concerns. Indeed, Europe finds itself caught up in the ultra-rapid development of China, India, the Americas, and other developing countries, which threatens its peace, politics, economy, and development. The future is uncertain socially, economically, financially, and climatically.

Everyone has the right to express their concerns, stand up for their beliefs, and make their demands heard, but always with respect for the rights of others. Disagreement has its place in a democratic society: it helps highlight integration challenges and opens a debate on how to address them.

But violence, vandalism, theft, and intimidation cannot stand in for dialogue. They sadden local communities. There’s no need for destruction to express anger, disagreement, or distress! Destroying remnants of the past to convey your wishes is criminal behaviour. It puts people in danger, undermines trust, wrecks the economy, and diverts attention from issues that deserve to be discussed calmly, without revenge for the historical past of the countries involved. Colonisation had its benefits as well as its harms, but current generations cannot be held responsible. That’s the past—let’s live in the future.

In the face of these acts of unprecedented violence on European soil, it is important to distinguish between the behaviours and the claims expressed by young people, without attributing to this group the responsibility for a few malicious individuals bent on destabilising and destroying the culture, education, and knowledge that have been passed down for millennia in a country. Listening means trying to understand the difficulties without giving up the common rules established by law. Peace, freedom of conscience, and respect for human dignity are precious achievements that we must preserve. Ensuring they are respected must go hand in hand with protecting everyone's rights, proportionate sanctions, and fair treatment. In daily life, this responsibility translates into favouring discussion over wild and destructive confrontation.

Institutions, associations, and citizens can help keep space for dialogue where problems are shared and solutions are discussed calmly, thoughtfully, respectfully, and politely. Cohesion doesn’t erase differences, but it allows everyone to live within a shared framework. By combining fairness, dialogue, and prevention, we can protect our freedoms while building trust that makes living peacefully together possible.