The Media and European Identity

Juan Luis Cebrian is the publisher of the Spanish daily El Pais. The following article is drawn from a talk by Cebrian to the founding meeting of the Council for European Responsibilities (COEUR) hosted by German president Roman Herzog at Schloss Bellevue in Berlin on February 25. In cooperation with El Pais, NPQ's weekly service for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, Global Viewpoint, is setting up a European syndication service for COEUR.

Madrid - For the first time in its history, Western Europe is ruled by a generation of people who, before the Kosovo crisis, have never gone to war. This historical fact is absolutely essential to understanding the problems of our identity. For centuries, this continent has been configured on the basis of confrontation between peoples, religions or races. The "right to be different" has usually been vindicated with more force than the right to be equal, even in times in which the latter was the most visible revolutionary banner. Today most Western Europeans are peaceful people.

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