Letter: European horizons

Sir: According to Warwick Cairns (letter, 18 June) the British have "too much in common with the world outside" to be true Europeans.

But what about the others? The French are more ethnically mixed than the British, the Spanish have strong links with central and south America and the Portuguese have nothing in common with the Finnish. They are, however, no less Europeans.

It is this diversity of influences and cultures which makes Europe appealing and fascinating. Like the Austrian Jewish writer Stefan Zweig in the 1930s, I am all the more European in that I feel a citizen of the world.

PHILIPPE BAREILLE

Leeds