Graz – ESI on standing up for Europe at the Graz Museum

14 January 2026
Gerald at the Graz Museum. Photo: Museum Graz
Gerald at the Graz Museum. Photo: Museum Graz

ESI’s Gerald Knaus led a discussion on the findings of his new book, Welches Europa brauchen wir? on the future of Europe, at the Graz Museum in Graz, Austria. The discussion was moderated by museum director Sibylle Dienesch.

Gerald invited the audience to reflect on Europe’s development since the fall of the Berlin Wall fall. Over the past decades, the continent has experienced both remarkable prosperity and renewed conflict. Gerald suggested an important conclusion to his audience: that European integration has been a peace project of unparalleled success. The European Union has transformed relations among European states, turning former rivals into close partners and embedding democratic values and human rights in political life. For countries like Austria, this process has helped anchor stability, cooperation, and openness at the heart of Europe.

At the same time, Gerald warned that these achievements cannot be taken for granted. Both foreign nationalist leaders such as Putin or Trump and European far-right nationalists including the AfD or FPO seek to reverse European integration by reviving nationalist divisions and fuelling political tensions, especially around migration. This narrative has found much success. The FPO now has a commanding lead in Austrian polls; the AfD has begun to top some polls in Germany, as well. In response, Gerald argued that European leaders need to take decisive action, advancing ethical migration management along the lines of the 2026 EU Turkey statement, which drastically cut both illegal migration and drowning in the Mediterranean. Those of us who support of European cooperation must speak more clearly about the achievements of integration and the values it represents.

In addition to his speech, Gerald was given a short guided tour of the Graz museum and had the chance to meet with museum staff.