![]() In 1983, Milan Kundera described the “Tragedy of Central Europe”, namely how, after the Second World War, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Balts, Hungarians, Romanians, Bulgarians and Jugoslavs “woke up to discover that they were now in the East” – that they had “vanished from the map of the West”. One of the many great intellectuals that this university produced reminded us of this back in the time of the Cold War. Giving expression to this fact is another reason why I’m here today – especially since we often forget that the lack of freedom, suffering and dictatorship did not end for many citizens in Central Europe with the German occupation and the destruction of the Second World War. These crimes fill us Germans with pain and shame to this day. It was the Germans who wrote the darkest chapter of this history: the closure of the university by the National Socialist occupiers, the shooting of protesting students and the abduction to German concentration camps of thousands of members of the university, who were subsequently murdered there. So the fact that Bohemians, Poles, Bavarians and Saxons completed their studium generale at “his” university as a matter of course alongside students from France, Italy and England only seems logical.īut because this university is in Europe, it also had to endure the low points of European history: religious fervour, division along linguistic and cultural lines and ideological streamlining during the dictatorships of the 20th century. Born with the old Bohemian first name “Václav”, educated in Bologna and Paris, the son of a ruler from the House of Luxembourg and a Habsburg mother, German Emperor, King of Bohemia and Italy. His biography suggests that this was the case. I couldn’t say whether its founder, Emperor Charles IV, thought of himself as a European. If Prague is therefore Europe in miniature, then the Charles University is like a chronicler of our European history, which is so rich in light and shadow. This is why we are here, because, amidst its medieval castles and bridges, Catholic, Protestant and Jewish places of worship and cemeteries, Gothic cathedrals and Art Nouveau palaces, high-rise buildings made of glass and quaint streets with their half-timbered houses and the hotchpotch of languages spoken in the Old Town, they discover the essence of Europe: the greatest possible diversity in a very cramped space. This is instantly apparent to each and every American or Chinese tourist strolling across the Charles Bridge up to the Castle. ![]() ![]() ![]() Those who make their way to the sources of Europe invariably come here – to this city whose legacy and character are more European than almost any other city on our continent. “Ad fontes”, which means to the sources – that was the call of the great humanists of the European Renaissance. There’s probably no better place to do this than here in the city of Prague, than at this university with its almost 700-year history. Thank you very much for your kind invitation! It’s a great honour for me to be here at this historic place – in the presence of the founder of this venerable institution, as it were – to talk to you about the future, about our future, which I believe can be summarised in a single word: Europe. Thirteen EU members have since joined E2I.Rector Professor Králíčková, honoured Prorectors and faculty members, Minister Bek, Excellencies, esteemed students, ladies and gentlemen, Spain has since joined the program.Īdditionally, in 2018 Macron proposed and created the European Intervention Initiative (E2I) which aims to create a common EU strategic culture. ![]() To strengthen the European defense industry, enhance EU members' security integration, and promote strategic autonomy, France and Germany announced in 2017 the creation of the Future Combat Air System that aims to jointly develop a next-generation European fighter aircraft. In further support of European research and development in defense technology, the EU established the $8.9 billion European Defense Fund in 2021. Sixty projects are currently being developed under PESCO. In 2017, the EU established the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) framework to promote cooperation on security and defense projects between its members and to increase their capacity to participate in multinational force groups. German Leopard 2 tanks in Vilseck, January 29, 2019. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. ![]()
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