euro|topics - Heinrich August Winkler

Winkler, Heinrich August

3 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

Gazeta Wyborcza - Poland | 01/09/2007

Heinrich August Winkler on the fears of East Europeans

In an interview published in the Gazeta Wyborcza, Adam Krzeminski interviews the German historian Heinrich August Winkler, who among other things expresses his views on the fears of East Europeans: "More important than the nationalist resentments of certain Polish politicians for me is the fear of losing part of Poland's newly attained sovereignty to the EU, which is an alliance of states that exercise their sovereignty partially together but also partially through supranational institutions. These fears are also present in other new EU member states, and older members should handle them very carefully. This is why I believe the term 'European constitution' was not well chosen. It was bound to provoke opposition, not just in Poland and Great Britain. If we want to carry out the institutional reforms necessary for a functioning EU, we should take care not to exacerbate such fears."

Berliner Zeitung - Germany | 23/03/2007

The EU celebrates its 50th anniversary

"Europeans have no cause for complacency," admonishes historian Heinrich August Winkler. "Europe and the West have repeatedly abused the very values they claim to uphold. Europe has not only fostered elevated cultural values, it has also bred nationalism, racism, colonialism and imperialism. For centuries it tore itself apart in what, looking back, appears to have been fratricidal warfare. Self-criticism must therefore remain an integral part of Europe and the West's remembrance of their common legacy. It was with good reason that, at the beginning of the unification process after the Second World War, protecting Europe against the recurrence of another such self-destructive catastrophe was a top priority."

Die Welt - Germany | 28/12/2005

Europe's Overexpansion

Historian Heinrich August Winkler explains in a commentary why it is vital that the European Union remain a community of values dedicated to upholding the political culture of the West – and why it shouldn't let Turkey join. "The EU is entering a phase of overexpansion. It encompasses large areas that have not yet embraced the West's political culture and where there is absolutely no basis for a 'sense of oneness' with Europe. It's now difficult to imagine a 'sense of oneness' that could extend from Lapland to Kurdistan. Over the course of time, there have been many powerful empires that have collapsed due to overexpansion yet history knows not one example of a superpower being created through overexpansion."

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