Tories' cheap slurs about EU ring hollow as it mobilises to meet Putin threat

As the European Union rearms in order to defend democracy, we should be celebrating the twin anniversaries of VE and Europe Day

Yesterday, and into this weekend, events took place across our shared continent to mark Europe Day. May 9 marks the 75th anniversary of the ‘Schuman Declaration’, made in 1950 by then the French foreign minister Robert Schuman, that laid out the framework for future European cooperation and, ultimately, the European Union as we know it today.

The anniversary is not unrelated to this week’s other big event, the 80th anniversary of VE Day. This morning, I will be hot footing it from an event in the City Square in Dundee – where we will gather to mark VE Day and the contribution that the city, including family members, made to the war effort – through to Edinburgh where a series of events will be taking place to mark Europe Day.

The Festival of Europe is discussing the future of the continent, bringing together parliamentarians, activists, academics and others from across it, at a pivotal time for all Europeans.

READ MORE: By VE Day in 1945, Stalin had got what he wanted in Poland – now Putin may get what he wants in Ukraine

For many on the Continent, VE Day and Europe Day are inextricably linked, with the European Union helping to preserve peace and democracy for decades (Picture: Thomas Samson) | POOL/AFP via Getty Images

A lasting peace

VE Day may have had more coverage this week – there was no Buckingham Palace or Edinburgh Castle flypast to mark Europe Day – but both are interconnected and a hugely significant part of our shared history. This is becoming all the more important as Europe mobilises, with defence spending going up and security at the top of the agenda.

The EU, and the Schuman Declaration, arose from the ashes of the Second World War. In a Europe still devastated by that conflict, and at the time, still split between East and West, the declaration was an effort to bring lasting peace.

There was no guarantee that we would not slip back into conflict in the aftermath of 1945, as Europe had done so many times before in the past. There was also the fact that, for so many, VE Day in 1945 did not mean liberation and an end to war and tyranny but rather just another version.

That is critical to understanding how others have seen this week’s anniversaries. Marking 80 years since the end of the Second World War, Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs put out a statement this week, similar to those by other foreign ministries, reminding the continent that: “May 1945 did not mark the end of the war for Estonia, and these so-called ‘liberators’ were, in fact, occupiers. The USSR used military force to occupy our land and suppress our attempts to restore independence.”

READ MORE: VE Day: Special salute for old Scottish regiment who lost 1,000 men during war

Hunt’s shocking USSR jibe

It is the reason why supporting Ukraine and its aspirations to join the EU are so important to so many European countries. For them, joining the EU was the key moment and this explains why those who campaign for human rights, democracy and the rule of law will take to the streets draped in EU flags.

For Ukraine, rejoining the European family of nations and obtaining membership of the EU is so important to its citizens, so many of whom have made the ultimate sacrifice or are prepared to do so in order for Ukraine to escape tyranny.

In the aftermath of the UK voting to leave the EU – something that is still viewed with a sense of palpable bewilderment across the continent – the then Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt referred to the EU as being similar to the USSR in order to underline his anti-Brussels credentials with his party.

The rebuke from across Europe was swift and the hurt very real. Polish foreign minister Radek Sikorski said of the remarks: “Did the Red Army force you to join? How many millions has Brussels exterminated? Gulag for demanding a referendum on independence? Apologise, Jeremy Hunt!”

Latvia’s ambassador to the UK, now the country’s foreign minister, and normally the very picture of diplomatic restraint, Baiba Braže, tweeted: “Soviets killed, deported, exiled and imprisoned [hundreds of] thousands of Latvia’s inhabitants after the illegal occupation in 1940, and ruined lives of three generations, while the EU has brought prosperity, equality, growth, respect.”

A massive success

To understand the Europe in which we live, we must understand those sentiments. EU enlargement has been a massive success, and one of the best investments any of us will ever make as taxpayers in terms of stabilising our continent and building wealth.

As well as the boosting its citizens’ rights, EU membership resulted in the doubling of GDP per capita by 2019 for those who joined from Eastern Europe in 2004 and significant economic growth for existing states.

It is not just in the east where the EU has been critical in stabilisation efforts, as illustrated with the transition to democracy in Spain or Portugal and peace in Ireland, where EU membership and investment were key to the process.

Unreliable America

Now the whole of Europe is mobilising in the face of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. Nato remains important but, given the unreliability of the US, the EU has become a critical security actor. There is protection in economic might and being inside the largest trading bloc on Earth.

It also means that, in terms of food and energy security, the bloc has become more self-sufficient providing greater resilience for its citizens. The proposed 800-billion-euro rearmament programme shows that the EU is serious about ensuring hard security to protect its values and citizens.

Over the past few days, we have had an opportunity to remember the sacrifices made by those who faced down the Nazis 80 years ago. The dwindling numbers of veterans and first-hand witnesses has made remembrance even more important.

As ever, an anniversary is also about the future and what comes next. To that end, these are two anniversaries are worthy of our time as the whole of Europe enters into a new era in which the peace and security delivered 80 years is no longer guaranteed.

Stephen Gethins is the MP for Arbroath & Broughty Ferry and vice-president of the European Movement in the UK