Legal Order in the Draft: Europe on the Eve of the 100th Anniversary of the Treaty of Versailles

Europe and the Globe have in recent years witnessed a series of unprecedented challenges of fundamentals of national, European and international legal order. States ignore decisions of competent courts, put international treaties in question, or are about to marginalize constitutional principles. Consequently, legal values are not acknowledge, past experiences ignored or misinterpreted and the peaceful future put at risk. The disastrous consequences of mistakes of the Treaty of Versailles and the inability of Europe to avoid them are recalled. The situation of Europe in the aftermath of the Cold War, as seen by some prominent US observers is addressed and the “Initiative for Europe” of the French President Emmanuel Macron, pleading for an independent and sovereign Europe, analyzed. A plea is made to replace the inefficient patchwork of memoranda and treaties which came into being after the end of Cold War by an international legal order, based on clear rights and obligations of all parties directly involved, necessary to secure an enduring peace in Europe.