2019 is turning out to be quite a rollercoaster year for global politics. Not that the few years before were any more reassuring , with deadly proxy wars raging in Syria and Yemen , mass displacement of entire populations, journalists being bombed, stabbed or neatly carved even in their home Embassies, and superpowers ignoring their neighbours ‘territorial sovereignty and annexing parcels of land at leisure. 

The world is turning on its head, 

and the feeling of trying to keep the balance while sitting on a spinning top  is becoming stronger and more real by the day. 

It is within this dizzying chaos that Europe is holding its Parliamentary elections while still reeling from the potential loss of the UK , one of its strongest liberal democracies now overrun by Nationalism, and   concurrently struggling to manage the realities that are unfolding in Italy, Poland, Hungary, Romania and yes, even Malta.

These European elections will not change any of the governments in the respective European states, but the performance of the government of each country in the Union, will determine how people will vote and will therefore decide whether the EU will survive the next decades. 

When different Nations opted to join the European Union, they stepped into the dream that had been painted for them, while looking out as bystanders from a platform that was the standard and quality of life at their time of joining. 

Now, economic realities have changed in many countries, the memory of a Europe bloodied by war is more remote, and the priorities and expectations of Europeans have taken alternative trajectories.

In 2019, people in European countries, including Malta will be voting for a Union they have experienced through their respective governments, through two financial crises, a recovery of sorts and a continent dealing piecemeal with mass immigration of refugees from a war fired and fuelled by Europe’s super power neighbour, whose aim to destabilise Europe while putting his expansionary plans into practice, was, and remains, very obvious.

If the EU is to survive, if we want it to survive, the next EU Parliament has to push through European policies that reach deep and directly into the lives of our children, our youth, our families and our elderly population.

It is important that we build physical roads and infrastructure that is the envy of other continents, but it is more important to build the next generation of Europeans, to fire them with a sense of belonging, a sense of identity and a sense of pride in their continent.  To achieve this we cannot have children treated as objects, trafficked, abused and left to languish in poverty uncared for and unprotected. 

All European citizens need to have access to proper upbringing, care and education. Affordable housing is key for the healthy development of our people, families, and none of our citizens should be sleeping in the streets. 

Loneliness and aloneness are a scourge in our developed continent. It can be tackled, home by home, country lane by country lane if we get ourselves organised.

Active aging should be nurtured and encouraged and the increasingly elderly population can be instrumental in passing on its experience and expertise to upcoming generations, by sharing its golden years in an organised fashion with the up and coming generations. 

School leavers need never be allowed to lapse into lazy habits and feelings of hopelessness and uselessness. They need to be absorbed into paid apprenticeships and transition jobs immediately. 

Timely and adequate healthcare needs to be guaranteed to all EU citizens and more investment needs to be made in prevention, scientific research and medical technology to provide the best care for Europeans.

Europe is the continent where dreams can come true. It is the envy of other continents even as things stand after the recent and ongoing upheavals, but we cannot take the quality of our life on this vast and beautiful rock for granted. 

We need to choose parliamentary representatives who stand for honesty, and integrity in politics. The wealth of our continent needs to be properly used to put social justice into wide and far reaching practice. There is enough for everybody to live well and in peace with each other if we check the siphoning off of the wealth we create  by corrupt politicians and their henchmen.

Corrupt regimes and politicians can be removed by our vote next Saturday , and from Sunday we can work together to consolidate the beauty of our continent and nurture the European dream.

Godfrey Farrugia is the Leader of Partit Demokratiku, a Member of Parliament, a former government parliamentary whip and health minister, and a candidate for the European Parliament