Europe's essentials
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Brussels - Graziella Jost, Stella Willborn
The large majority of the 2 500 journalists reporting from the EU Council works for European media but here and there you also meet representatives from Asian or American media. We had the chance to talk with Miyako Nakamura, correspondant for Akahata, a Japanese left-wing newspaper.
Why would a Japanese reader be curious to learn more about a European Council? "We are looking at the European Union which could serve as a role model for Asia. You created an area of freedom and peace where war between Member States is out of question. While ASEAN has been a regional community based on peace and prosperity, north-eastern part of Asia, namely Japan, China and the Korean Peninsula, has not been able to establish such a strong cooperation. My hope is that one day we create a regional community which covers the entire Asia."
Talking with her made us realise that we should keep in mind what Europe is about. 60 years of peace are worth to continue the European Union - even if there are opposite views within its countries to overcome. To continue in an efficient way, Europe needs urgently the fundamental reforms.
At the moment there are a lot of bilateral talks going on. We - while waiting where news flushing out - hope that the Heads of State will be having similar thoughts.