Europe is in the grip of a cult of identity. But we can fight back | Chloé Ridel

The far right claim we’re heading for a clash of civilisations. The rest of us must defend our democratic freedom

I was born in November 1991, a month before the Soviet Union disintegrated. At the time, two years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the European Union was gripped by the euphoria of the continent’s reunification. It seemed that the western model, upholding democracy and market economics, had triumphed over all others. Almost all the countries of central and eastern Europe – a chunk of the western world that had been kidnapped – expressed their determination to join the EU, as if it were some VIP club.

Hungary’s Viktor Orbán was seen as a great “liberal”, a champion of opposition to Soviet power. Everyone watched American soap operas on television. Despite the wars in the Balkans that followed, we took it for granted that liberal democracy would spread all across the world.

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