It's important to recognize that we in Europe will either succeed together or fail together.

Anyone who believes that the eternal question of war and peace in Europe is no longer there risks being deeply mistaken.

In politics, there are different categories of friendship. My friendship with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, for example .

Angela Merkel did the right thing. Her decision and the extraordinary willingness of the German people to take in refugees conveyed an image of Germany that is still having positive repercussions today. Unfortunately, people in Germany are no longer seeing that.

Many in Germany are saying that Macron should be helped. That's also how I see it. But Germany cannot solve France's problems. The French president and his government will have to seriously knuckle down in order to pull France out of its slump.

The good thing about the European Union is that the joint project ultimately benefits all Member States and not just a few.

It is not more Europe or less Europe that we need. We need a better Europe.