Sensing a growing suspicion of Brussels, EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy has defended the European Union as the “fatherland of peace” (euobserver.com, January 17, 2011).
Mr. Van Rompuy told university students in Poland, “The union’s force of attraction accelerated the collapse of Communism and the end of the Cold War… [and that] Europe is the best guarantee for peace.” He urged his listeners to resist “euro-scepticism” and look to the “negotiating rooms” in Brussels as the source of peace.