June 6, 1944 – June 9, 2024: From 2nd World War to the 10th European elections

Eighty years ago, 6th of June 1944, Operation Overlord started. Code name for the battle of Normandy, the operation was launched by the Allies against Nazi Germany and led to the successful liberation of occupied Western Europe and to the end of the second World War in Europe one year after. On “D-day,” 6,939 vessels were engaged to support the operation and 156,177 soldiers landed on the five now famous beaches of Normandy: Utah, Omaha, Juno, Gold and Sword Beach. Through their joint efforts and sacrifices, soldiers from the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Canada and other allies, whom we will be eternally grateful for, helped liberate Europe from the barbaric rule of the Nazi regime.

This collective effort laid the foundations of the international order that was established in the aftermath of WWII, in particular with the signing of the United Nations Charter and of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Because they are indeed universal in nature and put on equal footing every member-state and every human being, those values are still cherished today, be it in Europe, in the Philippines and other countries.

After the horrors of the war, reconciliation between France and Germany, through their able and future-oriented leaders and people, played a key role in affirming the principles enshrined in the UN Charter, anchoring peace and the rule of law in Europe.

On 9th of May 1950, Robert Schuman proposed to place French and Western Germany’s production of coal and steel under a single authority that later became the European Coal and Steel Community. It was the first step of a gradually increasing integration process among European countries that led later to the signature of the Treaty of Rome in 1957 creating the European economic community. Later, by the treaties of Lisbon and Maastricht, the integration led to today’s European Union.

Since then, every year on May 9, we celebrate this great achievement of peace, reconciliation and common destiny. Today, for almost 450 millions of citizens of our 27 member-states, Europe has an everyday meaning and everyday experience: we experience freedom of movement for goods, services, capital and people without internal borders and any visa requirements, Euro is the common currency in 20 EU member-states, our young people can study freely everywhere in Europe (14 million students enjoyed the Erasmus program since its creation) and we elect, as European citizens, our members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

In 1979, direct elections of European Parliament representatives were indeed organized for the first time. The French politician Simone Veil was then elected first ever President of the European Parliament; she was a living symbol of the path from war to peace in Europe, having herself been deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp during the war. The European Parliament gained increasing power ever since, having a crucial role with the European commission in shaping and approving most decisions approved within the EU.

This year 2024, on June 9, hundreds of millions of EU citizens like both of us will cast their vote and elect their European members of Parliament for five years. These elections will be the 10th elections of a European Parliament, comprised of 720 Parliamentarians from all 27 member-states. And they will be more contentious than ever before because of the rise of right-wing and populist parties in polls.

The European Parliament is a powerful institution: it elects the member of the European Commission and it has, together with European Council, the right to decide the budget of the European Union.

It is important to acknowledge what a remarkable achievement these elections symbolize for our democracies: once divided, European people now largely share common interests, and expect EU institutions to address them, from setting a common market to tackling together security and defense issues. And the European Parliament plays a crucial role in this respect.

Designed to ensure peace in Europe, the EU now has to adapt to increasingly challenging threats stemming from the illegal and brutal aggression of Russia against Ukraine since 24th of February 2022. The nature and extension of mass atrocities that are perpetrated in Ukraine by Russian military show that the preservation of our common values and liberal democracies is very much at stake in this conflict.

Like the Philippines during the Pacific war, we in Europe have been the epicenter of battlegrounds during WW2. Our societies and peoples truly understand the value of peace, which is challenged more and more in our world. The protection of a rules-based international order as an essential element for peace is an issue of equal importance in Europe and in the Indo-Pacific, where it is also contested. Together with the Philippines, France and Germany will continue to uphold the rules-based international order and the principles enshrined in the UN Charter, like the obligation to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.

Together we have to remember history to avoid committing the mistakes of the past in our common future. Commemorating today the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944, just a few days before the elections to the European Parliament on June 9, 2024, is a reminder of the challenges at stake for our liberal democracies and our individual rights and freedom.

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Marie Fontanel is the Ambassador of the Republic of France. Andreas Pfaffernoschke is the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany.