The European Union, once a reconciliation project, but today?

    This is the question that IFOR (International Fellowship of Reconciliation and Church of Peace) asked itself when it met at Ciarus for its European Meetings on 3, 4 and 5 October.

    On the agenda: a lecture on this theme, open to all, at the Church of St Pierre le Vieux, and forums against the backdrop of the idea of a Peace Agency within the European Institutions.

    It's true that the EEC (European Economic Community), which gave birth to the European Union as it's called today, came into being at the end of the Second World War to encourage countries to work together in order to prevent the possibility of future conflict.

    The people of Alsace are well placed to understand the difficulties of reconciliation after the upheavals and many scars left by the Second World War.

    IFOR's objective is to promote a culture of non-violence, the dialogue of reconciliation, the setting up and reinforcement of democratic processes and it has consultative status at the UN and UNESCO.