EU Observation

On the same day that former Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek was elected as President of the European Parliament, Britain's two BNP MEPs took their seats in Brussels Strasbourg.

Buzek, a Pole who lived in a region that shifted between Czechoslovak, Polish and German control during the Second World War and is the first EU Parliament President from the former Eastern bloc, is a symbol of that which unites Europe - a shared, if bloody, history and the ability to put the past behind and focus on the future.

The BNP are a symbol of what divides it, focusing on the differences between people, playing on historical hatred and uninformed rants.

Both, however, are part of the European project.

Toleration of that which we do not like. Side by side in an elected body.

Democracy. It's how we live.