Politics & Power Quote by Jean-Claude Juncker

A warning dressed up as a toast: Juncker’s “Take care, Europe” opens like a concerned neighbor knocking at the door, then snaps into a command. The pivot to “Fight with all your might” frames nationalism not as an ideology to debate but as a force to repel, something physical, contagious, and urgent. He doesn’t say “excessive nationalism” or “extremism”. He says “the stupid nationalism”, a deliberately blunt insult that strips the movement of dignity. It’s less technocrat-speak than a moral slap: you don’t reason with “stupid”, you outnumber it, quarantine it, beat it back.

The subtext is inseparable from Juncker’s EU identity. As a Luxembourg politician who spent his career inside the European project, he’s speaking from the worldview of a small state that survives by rules, coalitions, and open borders. “Long Live Europe” isn’t mere sentiment; it’s a counter-chant to the nationalism of flags and “sovereignty” rhetoric. He’s trying to make “Europe” feel like a nation-sized loyalty without admitting that’s what he’s doing. That tension is the point: European integration has always asked people to trade emotionally satisfying myths for bureaucratic cooperation. Juncker knows the myths are back.

Contextually, the line reads like a post-crisis flare: the eurozone turmoil, migration politics, Brexit, and the rise of right-populist parties that turned “Brussels” into a villain. His intent is to reframe the EU not as a managerial convenience but as a civilizational defense system. The rhetorical gamble is that scolding nationalism as “stupid” can energize pro-European resolve without sounding like the very elite disdain populists run against.