Ukraine and The Real Test for Europe :

Can we become a true European Community in the face of the Russian war on Ukraine?

In this war, our values are at stake

She came from Mariupol. The young blond woman who asked how she could help me when I walked into the reception center near the old bus station in Bratislava. She had arrived with her mother, entering Slovakia in April of this year of war. We spoke about her hopes for the future, as she was learning the Slovak language now. Perhaps, in the near future she could move back to Ukraine. But not to Mariupol. Her home no longer exists.

I listened to their stories. Stories of war. In Bratislava, in Vilnius, in Warsaw. I spoke to rescue workers, to pro bono lawyers, to people who were used to setting up refugee camps in other parts of the world and all of a sudden had to bring their expertise to Europe. This time, we are the region.

I was brought up in a family in which the stories of a different war were still lingering around. I can remember my grandmother complaining about the horrible cold of the snow in which she stood for hours, in the early mornings, in Bergen Belsen.

As the frontline is moving and war reporting sometimes starts to sound a bit like sports commentary, we must never forget that lives are shaken overnight, that brutal crimes are committed, that children will be hurt for a long time after the actual war is over.

This war is as much about our freedom, our values as it is about theirs. In Lithuania they do take it personally. Collecting 5 million euros to buy a Turkish fighter drone for Ukraine in just three days. They put it simply: “if Ukraine loses, we are next. And one day, it will be your turn.” “Us Lithuanians, we know the price of independence”, they said, smiling but distraught. Their biggest fear now is that Europe will fall to divisions. It is the only way Putin can win this war. And he is trying hard.

This is not just a regional conflict, a dispute over borders. It is a brutal confrontation between autocracy and democracy. Between the universal human rights and the addiction to power of a cruel dictator. And as Putin is weaponizing energy and sponsoring discontent and disinformation and possibly sabotaging infrastructure, he tries to take the war to us too.

Right now, we are entering a dangerous phase. The combination of inflation, rising energy prices and the prospect of a winter wave of new refugees — this time the poorest and most vulnerable people fleeing the cold — will put Europe to the test this winter.

It is our duty to protect those fleeing the war. Millions of displaced people turn to us for a future. As it is also our duty to protect the European societies that are receiving them. What is the meaning of solidarity? As one Lithuanian put it to me “the further you get west from the frontline, the less responsible and involved you guys feel.”

Special adviser for Ukraine

I have been asked by the European Commission to act as special advisor for Ukraine. Commissioner Nicolas Schmit for Jobs and Social rights has asked me to help coordinate, promote and stimulate the integration of Ukrainian refugees in our society, in our dsocial protection systems and labour markets.

In order to fulfull this mission for the European Commission, I will combine talks to national governments with visits to the city administrations, civil society and Ukrainian refugees themselves as I firmly believe that the work on the ground that defines the success or failure of our integration efforts is done by the latter.

I will directly involve Ukrainian displaced people, acknowledging their experiences as the measuring stick for how well their integration is going.

I will advocate for the need to acknowledge and harness existing social capital. Solidarity is taking shape in civil societies and municipalities all through Europe. We need to preserve, scale up and accelerate that valuable work.

In other words — I aim to connect stakeholders, to share knowledge, to support and help shape a positive and realistic narrative about how we will deal with the challenge posed by so many displaced persons.

As special advisor I feel it is my duty to present a realistic perspective on how long this may take, share successful examples of integration, acknowledge and aid networks and civil society initiatives that are already in place, and in that way help to preserve trust and prevent social unrest. Catalyzing political energy, societal creativity and solidarity.

There is a fierce urgency to be successful in our reception and integration efforts. So that Ukrainians can preserve, apply and develop their skills. So that they can support the reconstruction whenever they are able to return home. But also, to support and strengthen the receiving societies and communities and to prevent social unrest in EU Member States. We need to do this right for them and for all of us.

Protecting displaced Ukrainian people in Europe

We have been calling ourselves a ‘European community’ for decades now, but you cannot take the development of community for granted. An economic community and a declaration of values does not automatically spill-over into a social community in which people feel solidarity with each other. And a declaration of values in a European treaty does not automatically spill over into a community of values, a cultural community.

Historian Timothy Snyder warned us for what he calls a ‘politics of inevitability’: the prevalent notion that somehow values like ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’ are brought about automatically over time. Since there ‘are no alternatives’ (to quote Thatcher) or because ‘we are at the ‘end of history’ (Fukuyama). A direct result of the politics of inevitability is that we no longer need to think about values at all, as they are brought about automatically.

If anything, this war belied the ‘politics of inevitability’ and painfully laid bare how it clouded our judgment and lulled us to sleep.

This war firmly prompts the necessity to re-examine and redefine the values that will define the European community moving forward.

Especially now that we are facing the largest refugee protection assignment since the Second World War.

And fortunately, that work as already begun. These values are being redefined and affirmed right now. By numerous civil society initiatives all through Europe. For example by the Warsaw and Bratislava Station Reception Centres, close to the main stations. Where dignity is the driving value. By local leaders like the impressive Ieva Dirmaite in Vilnius or Mirka Volanska in Bratislava.

Many refugees have found jobs by themselves , public employment services are adapting quickly and efficiently to the new situation. In Warsaw, a city run employment agency is geared towards Ukrainians only, providing targeted support and advice, also working with employers to match them with jobseekers. In the three countries I visited, we heard how women start entering jobs previously marketed as “male” ones. Now you see them operating forklifts and conducting cranes in shipyards. This goes to show how we can shape a new, empowering reality, also on the employment front. The brand new European Labour Authority is taking up a new role informing displaced Ukrainians of their rights and possibilities and working together with local police and inspectorates to prevent undeclared work and human trafficking.

As I mentioned before, this is also a war on values and on how we speak about it. In what words? In Lithuania, people are battling misinformation. Two days before my visit, two Ukrainian refugees hired by the Ministry of Social affairs had started a campaign to debunk Russian propaganda. While teaching citizens from young age to spot lies and fake news, they will complement this with a positive and realistic narrative around welcoming Ukrainian refugees, while reminding us all of the brotherhood uniting both countries.

In Slovakia among others, NGOs are organising social gatherings with local communities, and are publishing stories weekly of successful integration journeys. We need to listen to them — they are on the frontline — and understand how to actually protect and integrate people.

In Warsaw, the “Ukrainian House” fights the battle on the cultural front, inviting artists, organising concerts and screening Ukrainian films to raise awareness and tackle stereotypes among the local population.

So, where next, Europe?

Granting Temporary Protection was a dramatic and courageous decision, enabling millions of Ukrainians to find shelter, apply for jobs and think of rebuilding, first of their lives, then of their country. They were received with a moving show of solidarity and humanity by their neighbours and especially the front-line states have been incredible.

But, half a year later, fatigue is setting in. Adrenalin will drop and as a cost of living crisis is raging through Europe we are at a crossroads.

We have a duty, all of us, to actively engage in redefining and affirming what it means to be a European community. We have to commit political energy, societal creativity, solidarity and financial resources to this. Catalyzing this will be my mission for the next months. Please contact me if you think I need to be made aware of specific examples or situations.

This will take long and it will change Europe.

Political leaders need to acknowledge this and discuss its consequences. We have to call out Russian propaganda efforts and its proxys in our national politics. We need to listen closely to the stories of our fellow Europeans with fresh memories of the Russian occupation. At dinner in Vilnius, all the women present had personal accounts of what it was like living in an occupied country. A grandfather sent to Sibersk. People never knowing who to trust out of fear one of their neighbours might be a KGB envoy.

Lets learn that lesson from the Baltics without having to live under occupation first.

“We are the region”. But what does it mean to be the region? That we need to actively engage, redefine and reaffirm what solidarity means. Solidarity with Ukrainians, with frontline states, within Europe. Because solidarity is the glue that holds us together, and what gives meaning to freedom and democracy. Solidarity does not come for free so member states need to collectively pick up the bill that is now being paid by frontline states.

But in order to help people on the ground and prepare for the winter wave it is necessary to increase direct funding to cities and civil society. We should organize and share knowledge of how to devise funds and regulations to make sure money reaches those who need it.

Solidarity is also needed to help Europe’s poor survive this winter. As always, inflation is accelerating inequality, hurting those without a buffer. As frontline states are strugging to deal with the influx and integration — receiving society should not be punished for their solidarity. The responsibility to make sure people are not left behind should weigh heavily on political leaders in Europe. If they are not convinced for reasons of social justice geopolitical reality should help them do the right thing.

My father survived World War II as a baby. As a jewish boy, four months old, he was smuggled out of the deportation center were he was brougt to with his parents in a garbage can. That way he escaped transportation to the concentration camp his parents were sent to. He was rescued by a family who risked their own lives pretending he was their own son.

My father grew up to become a lawyer and has always taught me that the rule of law is fragile. That values should never be taken for granted but that it takes a personal responsibility by each and every one of us to protect them. Not only on the battle field but also in the frontline states, in the other member states, in how we prosecute war crimes, in how we shape the narrative on this war. Dignity as a leading concept for how we treat refugees as well as those receiving them is a valuable European alternative to the politics of fear.

May we pass this winters’ test and renew our European community to reach a new spring of solidarity.

(closing remarks at the State of the European Union conference organized by Clingendael Institute, September 28th, The Hague)