Discours de Sandro Gozi au Congrès du Parti Démocrate européen

My dear friends, dear Stefanos, dear François, First of all, thank you, Stefanos. Thank you for your courage, your friendship, and your determination to build a stronger Democratic alternative in Greece. We are in Athens. Where democracy was born. And where, today, we must make a promise: democracy will not die on our watch! Because let us be clear. Democracy is under attack. Freedom is under attack. Truth itself is under attack. And the greatest danger is not only the strength of those who attack democracy. It is the weakness of those who should defend it. The silence. The hesitation. The compromises. The fear of taking sides.

My friends, we are Democrats. And we are not here to watch history being written by others. We are here to change the course of history! And that begins with something fundamental. The truth. La verité. François Bayrou a consacré sa vie politique à une conviction aussi forte qu’exigeante : la démocratie suppose le courage de dire la vérité. François, tu n’as jamais confondu le sens de l’État avec la recherche de popularité, ni l’exercice des responsabilités avec la facilité des promesses. Pour ton courage, ta détermination et ton engagement de toute une vie au service de la démocratie et de l’Europe, nous te devons bien plus que des remerciements : une immense gratitude et un respect qui ne s’effacera pas. Merci du fond du cœur, François. Merci pour ton courage, ta fidélité à tes convictions et l’exemple que tu nous donnes. But truth is not enough, as you François taught us. Truth without action becomes resignation. Action without truth becomes populism. Truth transformed into action — that is democratic leadership! And that is what our European Democratic family stands for. Not just words. Not just declarations. Action. Courage. Commitment.

Look at Ukraine. For Ukrainians, democracy is not an abstract concept. It is the father defending his family. It is a nation fighting for the right to exist. And to Putin, to those who excuse his aggression, to those who speak of peace while preparing Ukraine's surrender, our answer must be unmistakable: Peace is not surrender! There can be no lasting peace without freedom. And no peace in Europe built on Ukraine's capitulation!

Look at Serbia. Students marching demanding justice. We went there. We stood with them against Aleksandar Vucic. Look at Albania. For months, citizens have demanded democratic change. We stood by their side against Edi Rama. Look at Ekrem Imamoglu and the fight of turkish Democrats against Edogan, the autocrat of Ankara: we will never abandon you, dear Ekrem! Yes, never. Through our communication strength, we reach out more than 20 million people in Europe, in USA, in Canada and in other countries every month. We are the most active European political party on the social media. And today, from Athens, let us send a message to every democrat in Serbia and Albania and elsewhere : You are not alone! Your fight is our fight. Your freedom is our responsibility. Your European future is our common cause! And to those among us today, Taiwanese, Uyghur and Iran who have faced intimidation, threats, prosecution or imprisonment because they refused to give up their democratic convictions: Look around this room. This is your family. You are not merely our guests. You are the reason why we are here.

We will strengthen our dialogue with Indian Democrats. We will strengthen our alliance with US Democrats in the United States of America. And across the Atlantic, we will strengthen our alliance with American Democrats, who are fighting at a defining moment for the USA, the world’s most powerful democracy. Dear Neera, we stand with you. And we count on you to help make America a beacon of democracy, freedom and progress once again! Because authoritarians and extreme right movements are increasingly united: Trump, Milei, Bolsonaro, Le Pen, Meloni, Farage, Weidel meet and work together. They all want to weaken or destroy our Union and our democracies. And we, the Democrats, cannot afford to remain divided in facing this challenge. That is our mission. To turn the European Democrats into a political force connecting democrats across continents. A transnational network of courage. A global force for democracy!

And today, October 24th, on United Nations Day, let me reaffirm one very clear principle. At a time when the rules-based multilateral order is under attack, Europe must lead the fight to defend international law and safeguard the independence of the International Criminal Court. As member of the European Parliament, I am very proud of our decision to give the Sakarhov Prize to the International Court this year. We will not allow the force of law to be replaced by the law of force!

This is why we will never, ever forget October 7, 2023: the deadliest pogrom against Jews since the Holocaust. We will never forget. We will never forgive. And we will never surrender to Hamas Islamist terrorism. There is no “yes, but” when it comes to October 7. The moment you use the word “but” to justify or diminish that massacre, you begin to legitimise the monstrous logic of the terrorists. But our principles do not change depending on who the victims are. That is precisely why we also condemn the violence, abuses and crimes committed against Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West Bank. And that is why we stand alongside Israel’s democratic opposition to Netanyahu and his far- right allies. Two years ago, representatives of that opposition stood with us in Brussels. Today, we stand with them in Tel Aviv. Because their fight is our fight. There can be no double standards when it comes to human dignity. My dear friends, Let us now speak about Europe.

And let us speak clearly. Europe must become a power. Or Europe will become a playground for other powers. That is the choice before us. In a world shaped by Putin's aggression, Xi Jinping's ambitions, Trump's unilateralism and the return of imperial politics, no European country can defend its sovereignty alone. National sovereignty without European sovereignty is an illusion. And European Sovereingty must also be felt at home with very concrete results: with lower energy bills for families and business, more opportunities and a better future for our youth who protest in our cities - from Paris to Milan to Athens - , less bureaucracy and greater economic security for everybody. And this is the great deception of the nationalists. They promise to give people back control. But they weaken Europe, the only instrument that can give real control over their destiny. They promise sovereignty. They deliver dependence. They promise strength. They deliver isolation. They promise greatness. They make our countries smaller. François Mitterrand warned us speaking at the European Parliament in 1995: "Nationalism means war." Today, with war once again raging on European soil, those words are not a memory. They are a warning. And our answer must be stronger than ever.

But we cannot build a powerful Europe with the rules of a powerless Europe! Enough vetoes! Enough paralysis! Enough excuses! We need majority voting. We need treaty reform. And if some governments are not ready? Those who are ready must move forward! European unity cannot become a prison for European ambition. And nowhere is this more urgent than in defence.

My friends, let us say something that too many European leaders still hesitate to say. Twenty-seven national armies do not make a European defence. We must show the political will to build up a real European power and defend Europe together. At the same time, we want to fully respect the neutral status of some member states, such as Ireland or Malta. We need to build a Europe of free political choice where nobody can block and nobody can be obliged to commit. That is our ambition. And as we approach the seventieth anniversary of the Treaties of Rome on 25 March 2027, let us remember something essential. The founders of Europe were not cautious managers of the status quo. They were political revolutionaries. They dared to imagine what others considered impossible. They transformed enemies into partners. They transformed division into cooperation. They transformed the ruins of war into a project of peace. And now it is our turn. We do not honour Europe's founders by celebrating their courage. We honour them by showing the same courage ourselves! But my friends, a sovereign Europe cannot be an isolated Europe.

Our next great political project must be a global alliance of democracies. Let us begin with Canada. Mark Carney has understood this. And let us speak openly about our British friends. Brexit was sold as a triumph of sovereignty. It was celebrated by Le Pen, Meloni, and nationalist movements across Europe. But what did Brexit deliver? Not greater sovereignty. Not greater influence. Not greater prosperity. Brexit exposed the greatest lie of nationalism: that leaving Europe makes a country stronger. And let us dare to say it: The return of the UK to the EU would be one of the greatest democratic victories over nationalism and populism in our generation!

My dear friends, Let me conclude. Václav Havel reminded us that the salvation of our human world ultimately lies in the human heart. And he was right. Because democracy is not only about institutions. Not only about elections. Not only about treaties, markets or laws. Democracy is about human dignity. Because the greatest political divide of our time is no longer simply between left and right. It is between those who want to build our common future and those who want to imprison us in the fears of the past. Between those who unite and those who divide. Between those who dare and those who surrender. And we know which side we are on! We are Democrats! We are Europeans! We are humanist! And we are not afraid of the future! We are not here to defend yesterday's Europe. We are here to build tomorrow's Europe!

So let us leave Athens with a promise. We will tell the truth, even when it is difficult. We will defend freedom, even when it is dangerous. We will unite Europe, even when it seems impossible. And we will unite democrats, wherever democracy is under attack. Because our generation has a choice. We can be remembered as the generation that watched Europe become irrelevant. Or as the generation that finally made Europe sovereign. We can be remembered as the generation that allowed democracy to retreat. Or as the generation that fought back — and won! My friends, History does not belong to those who are afraid. History belongs to those who have the courage to change it. Here in Athens, where democracy began, let us make our choice. No more fear. No more hesitation. No more resignation. The time to defend democracy is now. The time to build European power is now. The time to unite democrats is now. We will win it! Thank you!