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Deutsche Welle (22 March 2019)

Frank-Walter Steinmeier is convinced that reverting back to nationalism is not the answer for tomorrow's world. Europe needs to be strong and united, he urged.

On a visit to fellow EU member Croatia, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he is convinced that Europe needed to "speak with one voice" to still be relevant internationally.

In a jibe at recent nationalist tendencies across Europe, he said that "a withdrawal into the national shell that some are dreaming of cannot be the answer to Europe's past."

"Nor is it the way to shape our shared future," he emphasized at a reception with Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic. Germany, like other nations, is "just a small country in tomorrow's world."

He urged people to vote in EU elections from May 23-26  to "renew the promise of Europe."

Steinmeier is on a three-day trip to Croatia that ends on Friday. Both Germany and Croatia will hold the six-month rotating EU presidency in 2020.

The creator of the world-famous Gruffalo monster, illustrator Axel Scheffler, conceived this drawing of a European heraldic animal: the EU owl. Born in Hamburg, the artist has lived in London for almost 30 years. Since the Brexit referendum, however, the United Kingdom "no longer feels like a home," he said. Scheffler initiated the book "Drawing Europe Together."

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