Weber and Stubb harmonize in the electoral debate «kleinezeitung.at

Harmony in Helsinki: Manfred Weber and Alexander Stubb, the two candidates of the ruling party of the European People's Party (EPP), demonstrated Wednesday evening to hundreds of EPP politicians in the Finnish capital, Eintracht. "No matter who you choose, in the end we will have a great candidate," said Stubb to the applause of the delegates.

9:05 pm, November 7, 2018

The former Finnish Prime Minister is considered a flagrant outsider in the race. The German Christsoziale Weber has obtained the support of all the heads of state and government of the EPP ranks. Even Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) put behind Weber, although he stressed in front of Austrian reporters that he appreciated both candidates. "We can be proud to have both people," said European Commissioner Johannes Hahn on the sidelines of the congress. Stubb was "certainly also a European badet". In fact, the worldly triathlete has managed to impress many delegates by his appearance, even within the delegation of the ÖVP, which belongs to the "Team Manfred".

From the beginning of the debate, Stubb subtly tried to put his fluency into play by opening his opening statement in German and emphasizing his friendship with Weber. "It was a campaign of two gentlemen," he said. His aim was to show that a pan-European campaign could be set up, Stubb emphasized in his program in 15 languages. At the same time, he promised to defeat Weber. "Whoever the chosen candidate is, the other one will remain 100% behind him and we will have an excellent election campaign," he said to the applause of the delegates. "It has been great to work with Alex, we practice democracy at the European level," said Weber. "In terms of content, we do not have so many issues that separate us," he said.

In fact, the differences in content between the two were identifiable only by trace elements. For example, they have made a clear commitment to upholding European values ​​vis-à-vis member states such as Hungary. "If we are not part of the values ​​we have defended all our lives, we are lost," said Stubb. Weber acknowledged that the commitment of these values ​​in the contracts is not enough. "We must also have the capacity to implement it at European level."

There was no difference in the migration problem either. Both therefore supported the protection of external borders and cooperation with Africa. Stubb took the more dramatic line by acknowledging that during the 2015 migration crisis, while he was Finnish Prime Minister, he had lived through "the most frightening moment of my political life". "It was a moment when you had to admit that you lost control." Since then, "the haemorrhage has stopped," but a durable solution also requires action against climate change, he said, citing global warming and population growth in Africa. "If we are not concerned with climate change, 2015 will have been a walk (compared to the impending migration wave, note)."

The two politicians also called for greater closeness to the citizens and learning from the mistakes of the past to challenge the populists. Weber is presented in this regard, but also in a thoughtful way. The "fundamental problem" in today's social media-dominated society is black and white painting. "Our DNA is a compromise, but compromises are considered a defeat, the biggest challenge is whether we can preserve our DNA from the compromises of this world," he said concretely, to balance the problems social and economic.

While Weber called the example of the truck driver, who would lose his job as an autonomous truck driver and whose worries should be addressed, Stubb was in favor of accepting the change in a positive way. "I would make the digital revolution my main problem over the next five years," he said, highlighting the need for lifelong learning. "You and I will not have a driver's license in 50 years because there will be autonomous cars," Stubb said.

Weber complains that there are today in European politics fewer visionaries than German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, forced two decades ago to oppose the 39, national opposition to the introduction of the euro. Today, similar decisions must be made to keep Europe competitive in the future. Stubb, on the other hand, felt optimistic and considered the uncomfortable situation in the world an opportunity for Europe. At a time when the United States and Britain were withdrawing, the European Union could make its mark as a champion of free trade. "The time has come for Europe: if the Council acts in concert and the Member States work together, Europe will emerge much more mature than the United victors," he said.

"Absolutely," Weber said, but at least once revealed that he already saw himself as the best candidate. He looks forward to the debate with Social Democrat candidate Frans Timmermans, Weber said on the issue of the fight against terrorism. And he also winced in talking about "populists" instead of "terrorists".