The Vice President of the Group of the European People's Party (EPP) in the European Parliament, Esteban González Pons, has assured today that "if Europe does not have a common future, there will be no future for any of its countries".
"We have no choice. Either we have a common future in Europe or there will be no future for us, "Gonzalez Pons said during the opening of a meeting of the European Ideas Network (EIN) in San Sebastian.
"Europe is at a crossroads, but not only is our European project. Our countries and our societies are also in danger, "he said.
The threats to the EU and its countries, he explained, are fundamentally nationalism, populism, extremism and the new geopolitical situation.
"National-populists, radicals and some powers like Russia see the EU as a goal to be defeated," he said before warning that "we are only the first objective: after Europe, they will go for Germany, France, Italy or Spain, as they already tried to do with the political crisis in Catalonia. "
What is at stake, he stressed, is "our lifestyle, and the principles and values we defend in Europe."
To defend them, insisted the vice-president of the PPE Group, unity is fundamental: "in today's world, European countries can not compete alone against economic and demographic giants like the United States, China or India. Within Europe we can speak of large, medium or small countries, but outside of Europe we are all small. "