Our Reporter
The outgoing President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, used his final address in his current office to the UN General Assembly on Thursday to make an impassioned plea for multilateralism.
“I know that the word globalism doesn’t sound attractive,’’ Tusk, who has headed up the council composed of EU member states for the last five years, said.
“In my political vocabulary, globalism and solidarity mean the same thing.’’
Tusk said his speech was “inspired by words spoken here two days ago, words suggesting an imminent conflict between patriotism and globalism,’’ in an apparent reference to the speech made by U.S. President Donald Trump.
“The future does not belong to globalists, the future belongs to patriots,’’ Trump had told the gathering of world leaders on Tuesday.
Poland’s Tusk warned against the egoism that can arise from patriotism.
“The history of our nations shows how easy it is to transform the love of one’s homeland into hatred towards one’s neighbours.
“To protect the truth, it is not enough to accuse others of promoting fake news,’’ the politician added, using a phrase commonly uttered by Trump.
If the powerful of the world do not respect the rule of law, “they will go down in history, not as leaders, but as fake leaders,’’ he concluded. (dpa/NAN)
