Freedom and peace aren’t given once and for all

"The Return of the Fallen Empires" conference preceding the award of The Polish Prize of Sérgio Vieira de Mello was officially opened by Bogusław Sonik, the president of Villa Decius Association. In his speech, he highlighted that today’s world experiences the rise of the empires. Nevertheless, history doesn’t repeat itself directly. Thus, these are not only the sinister powers of the past but also newly-emerged spaces of imperialism that endanger the world order. The only way to oppose them is the constant fight for freedom and respect for human rights. That was the way of Sérgio Vieira de Mello whose legacy is cherished during the annual conferences organised thanks to the efforts of Danuta Glondys, the director of Villa Decius Association. 

Also Krzysztof Markiel, the representative of Małopolska regional administration underlined the importance of the resistance towards the imperialism, i.e. the will to control the others. He also called the participants of the conference to focus on the fate of regular people and their need for freedom, sovereignty and sellf-determination.

Finally, Dominika Kasprowicz, deputy director of Villa Decius Association, read the address from Rafał Trzaskowski, secretary of state for European affairs, the deputy minister of foreign affairs of the Republic of Poland. He reminded that we claimed the end of history too early. He argued that nowadays challenges demand to stand up to the values of the fathers of the European integration. "Freedom and peace aren’t given once and for all" - hence it’s extremely important that the strong European voice – based on the European values such as freedom and respect for human rights is heard around the world.