Twenty Years of European Greens
1984 - 2004
edited by Arnold Cassola & Per Gahrton
Marie Christine Aulas Les Verts (France)
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EFGP Committee Member 1993-1997
This initiative which brings us all back together on the tenth anniversary of the setting up of the EFGP rekindles my doubts on the utility of these commemorative occasions. Our era is certainly a surprising one: more often than not, it looks back to the past rather than projecting itself in the future.
Would a glance to former times overcome the time of praxis? Whatever, I willingly give in to the invitation, since I am quite happy to reopen the album of souvenirs and shared emotions.
In the early nineties, the walls had just crumbled and Europe finally refound its natural dimensions. Being born after the second world war, our generation was going to breathe fully, move freely and build the future together. Some Eastern parties were already present at the founding of the Federation. They came from a common Russian speaking background, as we were belonging to a common English speaking one. This was a reflection of the times.
Another ironic thing: as the Federation was about to vote its statutes, the Greenpeace ship was berthed at the Helsinki quays. Parallel voices were pushing for the ecologic objective and, though being parallel, these voices could not converge.
A witness to this historic moment is the photo of Helmut Lippelt and myself signing together the statutes of the Federation. Helmut and I were a witness to the new reality where the Franco-German axis was collaborating together.
All this happened in Finland, ironically a border land. We mention the fact of being in the North as well as in the East, when evidently there is a lot of inter-relationship with the South and the West. As if the peculiarities of other faraway places characterized this land of the thousand and one lakes. And to prove such cultural inter-mixture, the Finnish Greens offered us the wonderful spectacle of a belly dance. Isn’t it a great idea to recall in memory our souvenirs of that day!
