Vienna – ESI lecture on European values

ESI's Gerald Knaus was invited to give a lecture at "Woche der Wirksamkeit" at Kardinal-König-Haus in Vienna on European values on the occasion of Austria's National Day.

Using the examples of political prisoners in Azerbaijan and the rise of right wing populist movements across Europe turning against migrants and refugees, he argued that when the institution that gave us today's European flag, and that remains the guardian of the moral constitution of democratic Europe – the European Convention on Human Rights – is fatally undermined, this points to a very serious crisis for all of Europe.

The EU has to defend its own standards internally (and do a much better job at this) and externally. We see democrats indifferent to the institution, while autocrats invest resources to capture and manipulate this critical intervention. Things are upside down. It is time to put them back in order.

Rumeli Observer: Fragility – autumn in a garden in Moscow (27 September 2016)