The EU’s vocation was to tear down walls and promote peace. Should it be a party to a conflict with a nuclear superpower?
History is like “a riderless horse, galloping through the night”. That was the image the then Spanish prime minister, Félipe González, used to depict the night the Berlin Wall fell. Since 24 February, when history stormed out of the stables, we have again been living in such a moment. Will we be able to bridle it again?
With the invasion of Ukraine the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has thrown himself into the unthinkable. He has crossed the Rubicon into a time of war. He has no way back. Fire and flames, all or nothing. Political will and cool-headedness on our side are now of vital importance. The first is present in abundance, but the latter is in short supply.
Luuk van Middelaar is a historian and political philosopher. From 2010 to 2014 he was political adviser to the president of the European Council.
