On the far proper, one other standpoint on Europe | EUROtoday

“As Westerners, we have not only the right but also the moral duty to prefer our civilization to all others. » When he speaks at the National Conservatism Conference, which was held on April 16 and 17 in Brussels, the Belgian neoconservative essayist David Engels knows that his positions on Europe are not the best shared among the far-right European leaders and intellectuals who constitute his audience. Entitled “Defending the Nation-State in Europe”, this 2024 version brings collectively, just like the earlier ones, a big majority of sovereignists and nationalists, extra inclined to defend the European Union (EU) than to contemplate its recast of their picture. For his half, a fervent defender of “European civilization” justifying searching for to construct a “Alternative Europe” to that of Brussels, David Engels subsequently prefers, when talking, to insist on what unites him together with his listeners – particularly, the conviction that “traditional cultural identity” of Europe have to be defended in opposition to the menace posed to it by immigration and multiculturalism.

Asked by The worldDavid Engels is nonetheless optimistic concerning the progress of his views in these circles: “When I started writing and publishing, my positions, which were both conservative and very pro-European, were indeed still relatively rare. But more and more European conservatives realized that they encountered the same problems as their counterparts in neighboring countries and that they could work together. Even, for some, it was interesting to ask ourselves what makes us not just French, German, Italian, but also European; and what concepts we could develop to rebuild the EU”he notes.

In reality, at this finish of the political spectrum, assume tanks, journals and conferences dedicated to Europe appear to be multiplying. Founded in 2007, the Center for European Renewal (CER), a conservative group primarily based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, has, for instance, performed a number one function on this reflection, a job performed at this time by the journal The European Conservative, which emanates from the CER and operates from Vienna, Austria, and Budapest, Hungary. In the identical method, if, from 2018, the publication of The Paris Declaration (Ed. du Cerf, 2018), a textual content co-authored by the conservative thinker Chantal Delsol, pleaded for a Europe “carnal”, “democratic” And “spiritual”it was just lately the Iliade Institute, a assume tank of the id motion based by Jean-Yves Le Gallou, which organized a convention entitled “From heritage to commitment, the Europe of our children”.

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