For a Europe Capable of Defending Freedom

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Overcome the veto power. Build common European defense.

The celebration of Europe Day has made us realize that we cannot stand still. The European Union was born from the rubble of war and from the idea that peace, democracy, and freedom could only be guaranteed through a common destiny among European peoples.

Today, that idea is under attack.

Since February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation has been waging a war of aggression against Ukraine, based on terror against the civilian population. Tens of thousands of drones and missiles have been launched against cities, hospitals, schools, theatres, railway stations, apartment buildings, energy grids, and infrastructure vital to the survival of millions of people. At the same time, the Russian Federation is using hybrid warfare against European democracies to destabilize them and alienate citizens from the idea of a strong and independent Europe.

In the face of this tragedy, Europe has shown solidarity, but also slowness, divisions, and paralysis. The principle of unanimity continues to prevent the European Union from acting with the speed, consistency, and strength required in the face of major historical crises.

A Europe that can be blocked by the veto of a single government is not yet a true political community. It cannot effectively defend its values, its security, and its future.

For this reason, we call for the overcoming of the veto power in the fundamental decisions of the European Union, starting with foreign policy, common security, and the defence of fundamental rights. This decisive step represents the precondition for a common European defence: a shared project capable of uniting European States in the responsibility for peace, collective security, and the protection of European democracies.

Today, Ukraine is not just defending itself. It is defending the principle that borders cannot be changed by force, that democracies have the right to exist, and that peoples must be free to choose their own destiny. Protecting Ukrainian civilians means protecting international law, human dignity, and the security of the entire European continent.

If Ukraine falls, the idea of a free, democratic Europe capable of protecting its citizens falls with it. This is why we believe that Ukraine’s future must be within the European Union.

Our Request

We call on Governments, national Parliaments, the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the European Council to take decisive action to create the right conditions for the veto power to be abolished.

We believe the time has come for Europe to choose: to remain an unfinished union, paralyzed by vetoes and fears, or to finally become a true political, democratic, and solidarity-based community, capable of defending freedom and peace.

Europe cannot truly be born without Kyiv. And today, Kyiv is resisting for us too.

First Signature: 

Igor Boni — President of Europa Radicale; Federica Valcauda — Treasurer of Europa Radicale;
Marco Taradash — journalist and former Member of the European Parliament;
Gianni Vernetti — former Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs;
Ivan Scalfarotto — Senator of the Italian Republic and former Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs; Antonio Stango — President of the Italian Federation for Human Rights;
Nathalie Tocci — former Director of the Institute of International Affairs and Senior Policy Fellow at Bocconi University;
Luca Aniasi — National President of FIAP (Italian Federation of Partisan Associations);
Oleksiy Goncharenko — Member of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada;
François Béchieau — National Secretary of the Mouvement des Progressistes and Deputy Mayor of Paris’s 19th arrondissement;
Pina Picierno — Vice-President of the European Parliament;
Sofia Ventura — political scientist and university professor.