Europe Day: United in Distance
In the European Union, every year on the 8th of May we mark the end of World War II on our continent. Seventy-five years on, we remember the horrors of that war. We commemorate every one of the countless lives lost, and we renew our promise to build trust and preserve peace.
Much like most people of my generation across Europe, I grew up reading and hearing about World War II. Stories from that war serve as everlasting reminders of how low human beings can sink and how high their spirits can soar, how fragile peace and freedom are, and how they are never to be taken for granted but always need to be defended.
It was from the ruins and ashes of World War II that the European Union emerged. On 9 May 1950, Robert Schuman, the then French foreign minister, set out his idea for a new form of political cooperation in Europe, which would make war between Europe's nations impossible. For us in the European Union, the 9th of May is Europe Day, a day when we renew our commitment to peace and unity in Europe.
Our Union is a living project. It grows, adapts to and creates new realities, and takes on new challenges each passing year. Our foundation is solidarity, and it has acquired a new meaning and purpose this year as nations in the EU and across the globe combat the COVID-19 pandemic. All our 27 member states are taking resolute action to reinforce their public health sectors and mitigate the socio-economic impact of the pandemic. The EU is mobilizing all means at its disposal to reinforce mutual support and coordinate our response on all tracks.
This year the vast majority of my Minsk-based EU colleagues and I are not in a position to observe the 9 May parade in person. We bow our heads in memory of each and every soldier and civilian who made the ultimate sacrifice in the terrible war that ended 75 years ago. We will always be indebted to all those men and women who worked tirelessly for decades to bring life back to normal and make sure new generations will not need to experience what it means to be at war.
But today we are confronted with another, invisible enemy, the coronavirus. My EU Member States colleagues and I believe it is important that the recommendations of the WHO are followed by all in this crucial period. We are #UnitedInDistance with all the Belarusian medics who are defending their nation from the unseen but vicious threat. We stay home to help those who wear not armor but hazmat suits.
It is an honor for us to be of use. We are sending disinfectants to schools, publishing information materials for high risk groups, and our cross-border cooperation partners are getting in the fight. Our cooperative efforts in healthcare made over the past few years, including through the BELMED programme, have born fruit - hospitals and clinics serving many communities in Belarus are now better equipped and better trained to fend off challenges, those that are familiar and those that are new. Very soon we will be in the position to be of more help, and we look forward to welcoming new EU-(co)funded, WHO-organized shipments of protective gear and medical materials. Our Team Europe, involving the EU, its Member States and many international financial institutions, have mobilized considerable support to economic recovery in the Eastern Partnership countries.
All through their history and all through the past century the Belarusian people showed unparalleled courage and perseverance. To the EU, Belarus is important as a direct neighbour, as part of the European heritage and part of our wider European community of nations. Са святам, Беларусь. З Днём Перамогі і з Днём Еўропы. We look forward to celebrating outdoors next spring as we had planned for this year.
