ASCE University of Karachi marks Europe Day

Karachi—The European Union is a result of ‘gigantic human and intellectual endeavours which transformed a blood ridden continent into a land of peace and growth’.

These views were expressed by Christian Ramage, the French Consul General in Karachi. A Karachi University statement on Wednesday said that he was speaking at a seminar on ‘Vision for a Common European Home: French perspective’.

The moot organized on Wednesday by the Area Study Centre for Europe (ASCE), University of Karachi, while marking the Europe Day.

The French Consul General said that philosophical influences have also been important in shaping the political contours of the European continent. He was of the view that dictatorships and monarchies in Europe had impeded the way for greater cooperation among European countries.

Ramage pointed out that in early 1930s there was rise of nationalistic tendencies in Nazi Germany. Furthermore, Nazi occupation during the Second World War was very brutal. The Second World War, he continued, was a huge human disaster; millions lost their lives.

He said that the actualization of European integration was preceded by two great world wars. European people suffered tremendously due to these wars. He said that from the French world, a great thinker like Victor Hugo introduced the idea of United States of Europe. European Union has been conjectured by other thinkers and leaders like Winston Churchill, too.

The Consul General said that France and Germany have been core architects of United Europe. Franco-German reconciliation paved the way for European integration. He said that French Revolution happens to be one of the most influential revolutions of the world.