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In troubled times, Europe asks: What does being 'European' really mean?

From islanders on the front lines of the refugee crisis, to those living in Europe’s biggest metropolises, to those tucked into rural communities far removed from the politics of their capitals, many feel that the European Union is at a crossroads.

Alexandros Apostolopoulos, a pensioner in Athens, Greece

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
Alexandros Apostolopoulos, Pensioner, Greece.

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As his country struggles under mounting debt and austerity demanded by the European Union, Greece, at the gateway to Europe, has also grappled with being on the front lines of the refugee crisis. Many Greeks feel like Brussels has abandoned them to the migrant influx.

"I was born in Kalamata. But I live in Athens. I am a pensioner since one year ago… but I just have a small piece, because [pensions] have all the time been cut, cut, cut. …

"I think most of the Greek people are friendly with foreign people. We have a Mediterranean heart here. We love sun. If someone likes the sun, they love people. In darkness there isn’t love for people. … I feel myself a European person. I am European inside here. Do you know why? Because we had the best philosophy 3,000 years ago, 2,500 years ago … And this philosophy came to Europe, to Germany, France, to England. I feel European inside of me …  European, culture, European democracy, European everything.

"But Europe sometimes makes mistakes. Because some of them feel strong, and have power they use for bad, not for good. … Some of them use their force to take control of everything. This is not democracy. Altogether we are European. We must speak as one."

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

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