When I first was conducting as guest CONDUCTOR in Europe 25 years ago, I would PROPOSE doing American pieces and grudgingly it would be ACCEPTED from TIME to time.

When PARIS sneezes, EUROPE catches COLD.

What does it MEAN with regard to tactics, this fact that the proletariat of WESTERN Europe stands all ALONE: that it has no prospect of any help whatsoever from any other CLASS?

You should not do this, Comrade. We are only in the introductory stage yet, here in WESTERN EUROPE. And in that stage it is better to ENCOURAGE the fighters than the RULERS.

The driving force BEHIND the LIBERAL counter-offensive in Europe has been a REACTION against irresponsibility.

You can't BUILD EUROPE against ANYONE.

If all EUROPE lies flat while the Russian mob tramps over it, we will then be faced with a war under DIFFICULT circumstances, and with a very good chance of LOSING it.

Our relations with the other POWERS of EUROPE have experienced no essential CHANGE SINCE the LAST session.

When I see the cultural diversity that EXISTS today, I feel that we MUST defend it, and we need EUROPE, because otherwise we are GOING to live in a SOCIETY with a single model, the Anglo-American model.

So Europe's a BIG driver. And at one point, if the euro hadn't devalued, they would have been making as much money as the US with half the STORES. Returns were higher.

The markets where we've got real good presence are the OLDER, more MATURE markets LIKE Australia, and Western Europe - where we've only got 6,000 stores, compared to the US with 13,000.

Quite frankly, Russian aggression in Ukraine and its illegal occupation of Crimea remind us that we still have a good DEAL more work to do to guarantee the strategic VISION of a Europe WHOLE, free and at PEACE.

Romania can be a linchpin in DELIVERING gas to its NEIGHBORS and even become an energy exporter for its neighbors ACROSS Central and Eastern EUROPE.

We must seek to persuade member states and INSTITUTIONS that better regulation in EUROPE does not mean CUTTING health and safety in the WORKPLACE, nor does it mean dismantling social standards.