The European Union is in my view the shining example of an open and free society. That is why the current crisis is so personal to me. I am very concerned about Europe’s future and the potential dissolution of its open society.

In the run up to World War I or in the Weimar Republic, people did not think all those terrible things that followed could happen. But I have a particular sensitivity to these matters, because I lived under both Nazi and Soviet occupation. And I would hate to see a repeat of dark times in Europe.

I believe in finding European solutions for the problems of Europe; national solutions make matters worse. So I am hoping for some kind of pro-European political alliance emerging.

I believe in the European Union and the principles of open society that originally inspired it, and I should like to recapture that spirit.