Here is something that needed to be said.
Der Link zu meinem Op-Ed zum #Brexit in der heutigen BILD ist hier.
And here is the English translation (By Henry Donovan):
Let's open our arms wide now!
By Alexander von Schoenburg
In the wake of the blatant anti-British resentments that can be heard all around Germany, when politicians and journalists alike demand Frau Merkel to stay „hard“ towards the British, it seems like we want to say: „You have never belonged to Europe, mind your own business!“
Yet, that is truly irresponsible.
Great Britain is clearly no country that one could afford to send it on its way, simply because one does not agree with its idea of sovereignty. For historic reasons, especially Germany should tread lighter when it comes to dealing with this proud nation. It was Great Britain, led by Winston Churchill (1874-1965), that was the first to stand up to Hitler, when Germany had just started World War Two. And it was Great Britain, that opened its harbours and doors to Jewish refugees, fleeing certain death during the Holocaust. There would be no free Europe without Great Britain, that sacrificed its sons purely for the freedom of our continent.
Yet there has been a long tradition in mainland Europe to seclude he British Isles from the continent – France’s Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970) dreamt of creating the European Economic Community, the forerunner of the EU, as a kind of modern version of the Carolingian empire under Charlemagne (742-814) – WITHOUT Great Britain! By 1963 London wished to join the European club, yet it took ten years until Great Britain was accepted – due to de Gaulle’s resistance. The main figure opposing France’s neo-Carolingian dream was indeed German chancellor Konrad Adenauer (1876-1967).
Where can we find a statesman such as Adenauer today?
Someone who will stand up to the bizarre bureaucratic machine of Brussels and present a historic vision? Someone who could keep the Junckers and Barniers at bay and remind us of our bloody bounden duty and would enable Great Britain to leave the EU, without punishing it? A man or a woman who would remind us of the historic vision of the EU: to be a federation of states and NOT a kind of Super-State - a confederation, that does not act in neglect of the historic peculiarities of its member states.
In fact, all of this shouldn’t be too much to ask for. Even the staunchest Brexiteers, such as Boris Johnson, seem to have realized that leaving the EU would mean to stay in some kind of trade union with the strong economic zone the continent represents. You can't have the the cake and eat it here. If we would only take a step back and give in to London on a smallest of adjustments, we would take the wind out of the Brexiteers sails and enable a stable relationship with the British. Adorno said the British are to the Germans what style is to substance. Well, for the Brits it's now all about decorum and losing face (i.e. style) so the EU should concede a bit at this historic moment and let them exist with their heads up high.
What the Germans and especially the EU-bureaucrats simply don’t seem to get, is why London is so keen on preventing the so-called Backstop plan for Northern Ireland. Germans do not know about the sacrifice British soldiers and especially the Norther Irish made for Great Britain. More people were killed by the IRA, than have by ISIS and Al Qaida combined. Maybe that will help us rethink our position on the „Irish question“.
In all honesty, if we continue making the proud British people look like clowns, as we currently are, we are on the path of neglecting in total the historic ties we have to our actual brothers and sisters. It is time as a German leader for Frau Merkel to rise up to the occasion and start treating Great Britain as it’s supposed to be treated: with respect and gratitude.
Instead of torturing the world’s oldest democracy with unacceptable demands, Frau Merkel and Monsieur Jean-Claude Juncker should try and honour the proud nation Great Britain is and start talks, renegotiating eye to eye – instead of celebrating having found a weak negotiation partner in Theresa May and her seemingly even weaker cabinet of dodgers. In this victory Frau Merkel seems to have forgotten the historic burden Germany has towards Europe and especially towards the British. De Gaulle would applaud these Anti-British actions – Adenauer would turn around in his grave in disgrace.
