Europe is Winning Minds

This video was powered by the European Cultural Foundation.

Into Europe: Europe is undergoing the world’s largest nation-building project.
The number of Europeans relating to their European identity rising over much of the past decade.

In the aftermath of Brexit, Covid, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, confidence in European institutions has been on the rise.

So what is the European Union doing to increase this European feeling and what does that mean for the future of Europe?

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[Jonassoe]

It's become easier than ever to socialize with people from all over Europe, both online and in-person. It's easy and cheap for me to visit a friend in Lithuania, Romania, Germany etc, and those kinds of experiences tell me how much we really have in common as Europeans.

[Eoin-B]

Having the euro, visaless travel with really cheap flights and all the youth being able to speak a common second language really brings us together.

[mariosathens]

As a Greek, i fully support the European project. I understand that there are some problems but it is the best project we ever had and we need to fix the problems rather than destroy it. Small or medium countries are voiceless in this new multipolar world, and you have a voice via the EU. Furthermore, the EU promotes peace, stability, and human rights to a continent that suffered the most from ongoing wars throughout its History. Every time i see what is happening all around the world with authoritarian regimes imprisoning their citizens, wars for minorities, borders, foreign interventions etc the more I support the EU.

[isaks]

I think a important factor in the European identity is the rise of Internet. We increasingly read the same news and watch the same media than compared with 20 years ago.

[lask]

Being a part of a Russian speaking minority in Estonia and hailing from insanely isolated family, having a second European identity actually helps a lot with feeling like you belong, even though I am perfectly accepted by my Estonian speaking peers. EU is amazing and wonderful thing we are currently building, sure it is a bit clunky and overburocratised, but it provided me with educational and travel opportunities that would have never arised by otherwise. It is the reason why I was able to start living and working in UK and why I can stay here after UK left. No matter where life takes me I know that I have a place to return to and thanks to EU it is now also much grander and greater than it would have been. Happy upcoming Europe day everyone.

[Real_MrDev]

I am Italian, and I can firmly say that the older I become and the more knowledgeable I become, the more pro-Europe I became.
I truly hope and think that the European project can succeed. One day, maybe, even expands away from the European border, exporting her model of peace to other EU like organizations.

The Union shall be formed, preserved, and thrive. May our differences be the glue of our unity. Ave Europa 🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺

[ivanvikalo]

Shout out to my fellow Europeans ❤🇪🇺🇪🇺 from Sweden 🇸🇪 I am very proud of our heritage and how far we have come thus far 😊

[ArramzyChaos]

In my experience a surprising contributor to European identity has been the US, because a lot of media Europeans consume comes from the US, and things like the US healthcare system and gun culture often play a prominent role. This makes the differences between the US and countries in Europe very clear and highlights that in many areas we are very alike and share more across the continent than we do with other countries in the "western world"

[Lleruelu]

Coincidentally just after Brexit, I moved to North America to work for 1 year. There I began to feel first European and then everything else. This feeling has only grown since I came back to the continent. I'm so happy to find these many people experiencing the development of this shared identity as well

[zewski]

I agree with the comments here. Just the fact that you can travel through most of europe for cheap and fast, the fact that most people can communicate in english, the connection we have through the internet and the rise of big forces like china, India etc... makes us set aside our differences and unite together for a strong europe because we are gonna need it. We dont wanna be a puppet to USA or China in the future...

[alexandergoldenhar]

It’s crazy to me how similar the struggles of the European Union are to the nascent United States 200+ years ago. Helping/funding other states and creating a national identity was the biggest hurdle for the early US

[blue_bag]

Im a norwegian who took part in the Erasmus project you mentioned. And i definitively relate to the growing european identity. Although i still feel norwegian, i also feel a strong connection to europe as a whole.

[Noel_]

We have much more in common with one another than we often realize.

[bobjohnson]

It's easy to forget the history we're living. A united Europe is counter to all of history and the fact that it's still going, gaining, and seems to have a shot at a future is pretty amazing. I like the concept of "regional unions" it has potential.

[derlaurenz]

I really couldn't care less whether someone my age comes from Ukraine, Portugal, Iceland or Austria ... we've all been growing up with a common sense of how the world ticks, have somewhat similar tastes in media and culture, speak fluent English mostly, so and so and so ... and now even face mutual challanges. I feel WAY more European rather than my native "heritage".

[lorcansnow]

I am Irish. I will only ever be Irish. Europe is just a continent we live on. The EU is just a political bloc we are a member of. Ask anyone off the street in Ireland and they will say that every time. We don't identify with european ever. Western is one people agree on though. Many are quite skeptic of the EU too.

[Purple_flower]

I'm a Brit and I still feel like a European.

I did not vote to leave but I don't hesitate in saying sorry to people in EU countries for the whole horrible mess of brexit and for the way UK politicians have insulted not just the EU but the people living there.

Greetings from Scotland. One day we will be back in the EU but it might not be in my lifetime 😔.

[lesfreresdelaquote]

Je suis navré mais depuis le départ de l'Angleterre, je ne peux accepter que l'anglais soit devenu la seule langue de communication en Europe. Le choix de l'anglais nous a été imposé par les Etas Unis après la deuxième guerre mondiale, à travers en particulier le plan Marshal qui a imposé aux pays qui l'acceptaient de faire de l'anglais la seule langue étrangère enseignée. Aujourd'hui, l'anglais est la langue de seulement 5 millions d'Européens, essentiellement Irlandais. Or, l'anglais est la seule langue acceptée pour soumettre un projet européen ou une proposition de loi. Les Anglais ont quitté l'Europe et nous nous soumettons encore à leur langue. Tous les discours officiels en Europe sont automatiquement faits en anglais. J'ai vu un commentaire où quelqu'un affirmait qu'il était fier des langues européennes. Aucun officiel européen ne s'exprime jamais dans sa langue maternelle... Pourquoi?

Je suis profondément européen, mais ce choix du tout anglais m'exaspère, car au lieu de promouvoir les valeurs sociales que l'Europe incarne, cette langue au contraire véhicule les valeurs américaines qui sont à l'opposée des nôtres, en matière d'éducation, de santé et d'organisation sociale. L'anglais est tout sauf une langue neutre, et les valeurs culturelles portées par cette langue ne seront jamais les miennes.

Si vous voulez communiquer sur l'Europe, parlez dans nos langues.

De toute façon, votre discours ne s'adresse qu'à une part infime de la société européenne, ceux qui ont fait des études supérieures et qui maîtrise l'anglais. D'entrée de jeu, vous excluez la majorité des gens qui ne maitrisent pas suffisamment l'anglais pour vous suivre. Je ne sais pas si j'ai envie d'une Europe aussi élitiste, aussi peu respectueuse de la culture de ses propres citoyens.

Nous réduisons sciemment nos propres cultures à un folklore un peu désuet que des Américains viennent visiter sans avoir à faire le moindre effort. Une sorte de Europeland, où pour participer au jeu, il leur suffit de parsemer la conversation d'un peu de bonjour, buongiorno, guten tag, paracalo pour se donner l'illusion d'avoir communiqué avec les indigènes, si fiers de montrer leur maitrise de la langue de Shakespeare.


Votre Europe va détruire nos cultures millénaires et promouvoir une organisation sociale dont personne ne veut, comme l'ont montré les manifestations récentes en France.

[thomasdanielsen]

I feel a greater sense of belonging to Europe than to the country I was born in. I was born in the EU, I live in the EU, and it is the EU that I want to be strong and represent my interests. Because the country I was born in is not at all strong enough to stand alone in the world we live in. And especially right now, when I can see that the USA is expanding its power in Europe and is in the process of establishing new military bases in Europe, there will only be one power that can get the US out of Europe again, and that will be the EU. Why seeing how the current leadership is talking the United States at the mouth is very worrying. NATO does not look after the EU's interests, but what is in the US's imperialist interests. I am European and it is Europeans who must be in control and decide the fate of Europe and not a foreign military power. Our neighbors should not be seen as our enemies. We must not be at war with each other. We must act together and live in peace.

[PrinceWalacra]

Every crisis make as Europeans realize more that we need each other to protect our democracy, rule of law, our right to be a diverse and equal society.