Norman Kay, the new Green Party chair of Stroud District Council, has received a powerful and moving letter from the Landrat (Administrator) of Landkreis Gottingen, Stroud’s twin district in Germany. It reads as follows:
“Dear Friends in our Twin District of Stroud!
We are thankful for 70 years of peace in the crucial part of Europe. Our continent and its peoples have never witnessed such a long time of harmony before. Largely, we also owe this to your readiness to reach out your hands for peace and friendship after the 2nd World War. You have given us and all of Europe the chance for a new beginning after a time of great grief.
We see it as a gift to live in a union of free peoples among equals. The union especially grants the right for us and our children to be Europeans without having to give up their own roots.
Many European progams for students and youths have contributed greatly to European intercultural understanding and mutual appreciation. Therefore, they should be extended.
In the light of these developments, it worries us that so many citizens of the United Kingdom seem to be in favour of the so-called “Brexit” that would take your country out of the European Union.
The shared history and dream of the European Union depend principally on your voice and expression. Surely, the EU needs to be improved in many concerns. But we would like to stand up and fight for these improvements together with you!
We have been proud to develop the European idea with you over the last decades, and we would like to develop it further in the future. We are grateful for over 70 years of peace and economic growth in the European Union. Europe has never before seen such a long period of peace and prosperity.
We are aware that many factors – such as the questionable response to the refugee crisis last winter, the excessive regulation from the European Parliament and bureaucracy, and the often exaggerated focus on purely economic concerns in EU policy-making – have all eroded the trust in the EU’s institutions. However it is up to us to reform and improve this Union to the benefit of the peoples who live in our towns and districts.
In case that the citizens of Great Britain should vote against membership in the EU, we will of course respect your decision as a matter of course. We would continue to cooperate and celebrate our partnership with you. Yet, in order to meet the global challenges that face us we wish for a European Union of solidarity and efficacy, both qualities to which you have made vital contributions in the past.
Let us therefore continue to build our shared house together, as Europeans with diverse national identities in open and respectful dialogue. We need you, and we are counting on you!”
It is signed by the Landrat, Bernhard Reuter, and four other members of the Landkreis Gottingen administration.