Donnacha Ó Beacháin

that kind of natural dynamic from taking place.

But I think what we're seeing now is that's unraveling and where we end up, well, we don't know yet.

No, very true.

There were countries perhaps hiding behind Hungary, as people did behind the United Kingdom before Brexit.

So the European Union, as I said, its greatest strength is its diversity and the fact that it has 27 members and that it's democratic in character, but that's also its greatest weakness.

It's Achilles' heel.

And so I think that...

This gives us, I think, a moment for reflection.

What worked in Hungary?

What might work for the rest of Europe?

Because without sounding too dramatic, I think that if Europe doesn't consolidate and protect the values, the democratic values, I mean, Europe has many imperfections, but the fact that we still choose who will govern us is a very fundamental thing that makes us different from most of the world's population.

If we can't protect that and protect similar like-minded countries like Taiwan, I mean, in this globalized world, it's not just geography that matters, it's values.

And values are also globalized.

And therefore, in many respects, Taiwan is a neighbor of Europe globally.

in a way that will say Russia may be geographically a neighbor, but politically is on the other side of the world, that if we don't protect those and find ways to enhance our own standing and our own place in the world, I think that

we may go into irreversible retreat.

It has happened before in human history.

And we have had very dark days in Europe when we haven't been able to withstand authoritarian leaders who, as I said, wanted to impose their will and their way of life on others.

So the stakes are very high.

And, you know, hopefully, as I said, we've been at this crossroads before.