Pessimism in EU: Europe threatened, war at its borders

Pessimism in EU: Europe threatened, war at its borders

At the same time, he German politician thinks that the courage to take these steps is limited.

"We have centrifugal forces in the EU," said Schulz, adding that this was why Europe is threatened.

At a time of globalization, Europe has withdrawn instead of accepting these challenges, he said, stressing that citizens no longer believe in institutions while trust can be restored only with a better distribution of jurisdictions.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said it was "difficult to describe the state of the EU."

"The reality is that many things are working well, about which nobody is talking. Many things, however, do not work, while many are taken for granted," he explained.

Juncker also warned "the issue of war and peace" was often being overlooked.

"The war has reached our borders," he said, referring to the wars in Syria and Ukraine.

At the same time he added that Europe is the smallest continent while "its citizens" still think that they are "masters of the world."

Juncker also said that the share of Europe in the world economy is steadily declining, which is why European integration should not be halted.

Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern agreed with Schulz, adding that the state of Europe is a matter for concern.

"It is often forgotten that we are still the strongest economic area. And Austria has prosperity like never before," he said.

Kern believes that "the challenge of the future is an acceleration brought by the globalization and the development of technology, and along it come migrations."

Europe, he added, creates the impression that it only still cares about competitiveness and that only the voices of entrepreneurs are being heard, while forgetting people who do not profit from "the development of prosperity."

In this regard, he said there was "a direct link" between Brexit, Marine Le Pen and right-wing populists, and Donald Trump.

Kern suggested that citizens do not believe in EU's promise security and prosperity, while "poorer people do not expect some Trumps to solve their problems - they want to see the economic and political elite on their knees."

The Austrian chancellor is convinced that Brexit will force the EU to answer the basic questions, and if it fails, "then it will face a real crisis."