The European Civilization Chair of the College of Europe in Natolin was delighted to organise the European Civilization Debate. History, Values, and Politics on "Europe Whole, Free, and at Peace - Past and Future?” with Professor Katja HOYER, German-British historian and a visiting Research Fellow at King's College London.
"Europe Whole, Free, and at Peace" refers to the famous speech delivered by U.S. President George H. W. BUSH in Mainz, West Germany, on 31 May 1989. In that speech, he declared:
“For 40 years, the world has waited for the Cold War to end. (…) But the passion for freedom cannot be denied forever. The world has waited long enough. The time is right. Let Europe be whole and free.”
These words heralded a period of profound transformation across the European continent. They foreshadowed the reunification of Germany, the political and economic transformation of Central and Eastern Europe, and the broader process of European integration in the aftermath of the Cold War, which gave new shape to the European Union. This transformation was mostly, though not entirely, peaceful: the former Yugoslavia was the bloodiest exception in the 1990s.
That was the past. But what about the future?
What must be done to defend and sustain a united Europe under these conditions? Are Europeans sufficiently aware of their shared achievements and values to generate the political will and collective strength needed to redefine Europe’s role in a rapidly changing world?
The debate was led by Professor Sławomir DĘBSKI and Professor Marek CICHOCKI.
About the speaker:
Prof Katja HOYER is a German-British historian, journalist and the author of the international bestsellers Beyond the Wall and Blood and Iron.
Her latest book, Weimar, will be published in May 2026. A visiting Research Fellow at King's College London and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, she writes for Bloomberg and Berliner Zeitung and is a commentator on German current affairs for many British newspapers, as well as publishing her own biweekly blog Zeitgeist.
She was born in Germany and is now based in the UK.