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."

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