In 1941, as Hitler’s troops set fire to the continent, Altiero Spinelli, Ernesto Rossi and Ursula Hirschmann had been confined by the Italian fascist regime to a small town called Ventotene. And they wrote this:

“The dividing line between progressive and reactionary parties no longer follows the formal line of greater or lesser democracy […]; rather the division falls along the line, very new and substantial, that separates the party members into two groups. The first is made up of those who conceive the essential purpose and goal of struggle as the ancient one, that is, the conquest of national political power […]. The second are those who see the creation of a solid international State as the main purpose; they will direct popular forces toward this goal, and, having won national power, will use it first and foremost as an instrument for achieving international unity.”.^[2]

Today is a sad day. But it is not the end. In a far worse situation, Spinelli, Rossi and Hirschmann kept working for a free, peaceful, united Europe. So will I, in love, and for the interest of my Italian-Swedish family, my Belgian residency, my Romanian, German, English, Swedish, Scottish, Icelandic and American business partners. Good luck and a strong hug to all of our friends in the United Kingdom.

We keep building. That’s the way.