Blue light for a common European future. The European Parliament has published a press release indicating that around sixty cities on the continent will carry a message this Thursday calling for people to vote in the next European elections, held from June 6 to 9.
Symbolically, in Paris, the Arc de Triomphe has been designated to be illuminated in blue, from nightfall (around 9 p.m.) until midnight. The monument will also feature the election campaign slogan, “Use your voice. Or others will decide for you”, and the European flag.
In its press release, the European Parliament assures that it wishes to “send a message of unity to 440 million European citizens”, as the European elections loom. This Thursday, May 9, Europe Day, falls exactly one month before the election.
“This date marks the anniversary of the historic declaration made by Robert Schuman, in which he set out the idea of a new form of political cooperation in Europe, which would make war between European nations unthinkable,” recalls the Parliament.
In addition to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the Colosseum in Rome (Italy), the Grand Place in Brussels (Belgium), the Samuel Beckett Bridge and the buildings of the National Parliament in Dublin (Ireland) will also be illuminated in the colors of the European Union. In Vilnius (Lithuania), it is the city hall which will raise public awareness of this vote, like Fort Sant’Angelo in Valletta or the presidential palace in Bratislava (Slovakia), among many other examples. A symbol of unity even though the war is still striking in Ukraine, at the gates of the European Union.
