Based on the welcoming of refugees leaders are determining the future of Europe.

In Munich, on the 13th of February 2016, the French Prime Minister Manuel Valls declared that France will welcome 30,000 refugees, no more. While the German chancellor Angela Merkel tries to create a coalition of European countries to welcome them, and that Germany has already opened its doors to more than a million refugees, Manuel Valls simply stated that ‘’Europe can’t welcome any more refugees’’.

For sure, the idea that a portion of solutions is extra-European is also true and it lies in the reconstruction of Failed States and the provision of development aid to prevent conflicts and create societies of sustainable peace.

For sure, Europe is under pressure and the idea that terrorists might take the same way of refugees to blow themselves in our countries remains a scary perspective and reality.

But it is also, as reminded many times by newspapers columns, the history of Europe which is at play and its values that are challenged. In particular when we know that if on one hand politics are reluctant to welcome refugees, on the other hand, smart initiatives to have an harmonious welcoming and integration of refugees are flourishing on behalf of many citizens as they acknowledge refugees are educated, willing to contribute to the good of our societies and seeking an accommodation, be it fixed or even temporary.

How will our grand-children judge us when they will learn that we slammed the door in the face of part of humanity? How will we not get red with shame from having swept aside the problem? And what Europe will we bequeath them if we do not start implementing collective generosity?