SIR – Our so-called “struggles against assorted tyrants down the ages” (John Phillpott, Worcester News, May 21) were mostly about maintaining the privileges and ambitions of the ruling classes of Europe’s many states and self-proclaimed empires.

Thankfully, the days of standing armies lining the borders of European nations have ended as have the mass killings of younger generations in European wars. The Second World War was a just war that finally secured basic human rights by the end of the Cold War – no military or religious dictatorships, access to the courts, a free press, democratic accountability, free movement and a court to guarantee human rights across Europe.

I don’t understand why anybody feels threatened by the sharing of sovereignty.

The weakness of the EU lies in the lack of a full commitment to the EU and the absence of a unified economy. A strong EU could ensure that banking worked for the development of societies, not the unending enrichment of unprincipled speculators, for example.

Our common interests are too numerous to list here. Our survival depends on realising many of them.

They can only be realised in a strong and united Europe.

Peter Nielsen, Worcester