LUXEMBOURG (CHATNEWSTV) — European Council President António Costa on Friday marked the 75th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration with a call to strengthen European unity and support Ukraine amid ongoing Russian aggression.
Speaking at a Europe Day ceremony in Luxembourg, Costa paid tribute to Robert Schuman’s postwar vision of peace and integration, warning that the European project now faces its greatest test in a generation.
“Schuman made it clear: peace and European integration go hand in hand. Not a mere ceasefire. Not a cold peace. But real and lasting and comprehensive peace,” Costa said. “That vision faces its greatest test today, as war has returned to our continent in the form of Russia’s brutal aggression against Ukraine.”
He emphasized the European Union’s unwavering commitment to helping Ukraine achieve “a comprehensive, just and lasting peace, the way we built it in the past 75 years.”
Hosted by Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden, the ceremony also honored Europe’s resilience following World War II and the foundational principles of the EU. Costa urged member states to channel Schuman’s ambition beyond Europe’s borders.
“The Schuman Declaration’s very first sentence is clear: ‘World peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it,’” Costa noted.
He outlined four key areas where the EU must intensify efforts: building a stronger European defence, deepening global partnerships through trade, accelerating enlargement, and delivering prosperity and social progress to citizens.
“Peace without defence is an illusion,” he warned. “Enlargement is the best geopolitical investment we can make.”
Costa struck a hopeful note despite current global challenges, calling the EU “a space of vibrant and lively democracies” and “an anchor of reliability and predictability in a world of rapid and sometimes chaotic change.”
“Can Europe do better? Of course it can. And of course it will,” he concluded. “Because, when Europeans choose unity… anything is possible.”
