In the United States there are no problems with political integration because "the only thing they did was kill a couple of Indians". That's the explanation offered today by Spain's foreign minister, Josep Borrell, for the differences between the USA and various European countries with centrifugal tendencies during a debate at Madrid's Complutense University.

The minister was taking part today in a debate in the university's auditorium alongside his German counterpart, Heiko Maas, under the title "The European Union as an economic and global actor which protects its citizens", moderated by the university's rector, Carlos Andradas.

Borrell, who just today learnt that he faces a 30,000€ (£26,600; $33,900) fine for using privileged information to recommend an acquaintance sell stocks in the firm Abengoa, believes there are pro-independence movements in countries like Spain, Italy, Germany, Belgium and the UK thanks to the existence of communities who don't feel part of the country as a whole. He wanted to contrast this with the supposed lack of such opposition to a joint project in the US.

The minister argued that this "greater level of political integration" in the United States is down to two reasons: "Firstly, because they all share the same language, and secondly, because they have very little history behind them". He characterises this history as the country "being born independent with practically no history, all they'd done was kill a couple of Indians". In Europe, meanwhile, there is a need to "construct a concept based on the idea of the citizenry, neither religious nor ethnic, but based on a series of rights and duties" which requires people "to want to actively do [things] and work".

As such, he argued there needs to be "a huge investment in education in Europe with centres where students and teachers are mixed like in a crucible of Europeanness".

History

Borrell himself, later in the same speech, noted that the US has been through a Civil War in which secession was at stake.

Similarly, native peoples represent thousands of years of history before the arrival of anyone else on the continent. As for a "couple of deaths", the number of Native Americans who died directly or indirectly through European colonisation, including the American Indian Wars, the Trail of Tears, etc, reaches into the millions and many tribes were forcibly removed from their traditional lands.

This isn't the first time Borrell has been questioned for his knowledge of history. On 3rd September, he sent the following tweet:

Hoy hace 79 años el III Reich alemán invadió #Polonia y #Europa se autodestruyó consecuencia del enfrentamiento entre nacionalismos exacerbados y de la locura étnica. De sus cenizas surgió la #UE, que nos ha dado ya casi 70 años de paz. No olvidemos las lecciones de la Historia. — Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) 3 de setembre de 2018

Translation: 79 years ago today [sic], the German 3rd Reich invaded Poland and Europe destroyed itself as a consequence of the confrontation between exacerbated nationalisms and ethnic madness. From its ashes rose the EU, which has now given us almost 70 years of peace. Let's not forget the lessons of History.