Interview wirh Jo Leinen about the European elections and the Ukraine crisis. Leinen: "The "single" idea of Europe no longer exists. After WWII it was easy to agree on the idea of peace. Now it has become more diverse. While the idea of peace still remains – just look at Ukraine – there is the concept of being able to continue living a good life in Europe. In the 21st century we want to defend our values and our interests in an ever-shrinking world. Granted, that is a bit more complicated to explain but it is just as important as the idea for peace." Leinen has called it a disservice that the German Constitutional Court ruled to remove the 3% electoral threshold". He says: "The Court underestimates the role of the parliament as a legislative body and as a means of assembling the European executive. It seems to have compared the European level to the level of a city council, where it does not matter how many parties emerge. That is wrong. We need to bundle interests. A fragmented European parliament is less able to make decisions than one in which political currents and interests are bundled into various political groups. Everything else hinders and complicates its work."