Being pro European is exhausting.

It means being insulted for trying to protect what we love. It means being accused of wanting to destroy our nations when all we want is to prevent them from becoming powerless. We are accused of wanting to erase national identities when we want to protect them. We are accused of wanting open borders when we want Europe to finally control its borders. We are accused of destroying our economies when we want our industries, jobs, capital and companies to remain in Europe.

We are accused of every failure, when so often what we are fighting for is precisely the opposite.

We want Europeans to afford homes, pay their energy bills and build a future here. We want European startups to grow in Europe instead of having to turn to America for capital. We want our industries to compete instead of disappearing. We want secure borders and controlled immigration. We want affordable energy. We want the ability to defend ourselves.

We see a Russia willing to use military force. We see a China capable of overwhelming our industries. We see an America increasingly willing to use its economic, financial and technological power in its own interests.

And we refuse to accept that Europeans should simply watch while others shape the world around us.

We do not want Europe because we despise our nations. We want Europe because we love them too much to watch them become powerless.

We want France to remain France, Germany to remain Germany, Italy to remain Italy, Poland to remain Poland. But we also understand that sovereignty means very little if, individually, we no longer have the power to exercise it.

That is perhaps the tragedy of being pro European today. We have to fight outside to defend Europe from those who can weaken it, while fighting inside against the idea that European unity is somehow the enemy of our nations.

We are not trying to erase Europe’s nations.

We are trying to make sure they still have a future.

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