Welcome Speech by Mr. Stavros Andreadis, Chairman of the Governing Council,Theophano Foundation

Your Excellency, High Representative of the United Nations,

Dear Mr Vice-President of the European Commission,

Dear Mr President of the European Committee of the Regions,

 

Distinguished guests,

honouring us with your presence for yet another year,

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

On behalf of the Foundation’s Governing Council,

I am truly pleased and honoured to welcome you to the presentation of this year’s – fourth – pan-European ‘Empress Theophano’ Prize.

 

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When this noble initiative was launched in 2019 as an idea of Herman Van Rompuy, who holds true affection for Greece and whom we call a friend, none of us could have imagined the strides the institution would make in just 3 years.

 

From the Erasmus programme, with the Prize accepted by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

 

To Drs Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci, the pair of scientists who developed the first coronavirus vaccine, focusing on Science for the Common Good.

 

To world-renowned conductor Daniel Barenboim, for his humanitarian action and the profound symbolism of West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, comprising both Israelis and Palestinians, underlining the role of Art as a means for mutual understanding.

 

We believe that all were very important awards, aiming to highlight important figures and initiatives that contribute to understanding and rapprochement between people, nations and ideologies.

 

This is in keeping with the acts of Empress Theophano, as history teaches us, and remains the only path towards a brighter future.

 

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During these three first years of the Prize, none of us imagined how dramatically imperative and necessary the aim of the Prize would become. 

 

At this year’s event, we find the planet, and particularly the wider region of Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean, at a truly sad and critical moment for the peace and prosperity of its people.

 

In this time of global crisis, it is more vitally important than ever to strengthen the league of nations, so that it expresses the worldwide desire for imposing rules and taking actions aiming at humanitarianism and peace.

 

Today, in the country that laid the foundations of democracy, we are honouring the United Nations, the largest international body promoting all the foregoing, and its leader, Secretary-General António Guterres.

 

Through its initiatives, especially in crisis situations, the United Nations shows us how humanitarianism can and must be placed at the heart of political leadership, and how political leaders have a responsibility to ensure a better tomorrow for the citizens not only of one country but of the whole world.

For humanity, for all the planet.

 

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Mr . António Guterres’ eager acceptance of the Prize is a particular honour for our Foundation and the Prize. Unfortunately, the critical nature of current affairs and tragic occurrences in the Middle East do not permit him to be with us today.

However, he is represented by a world-renowned luminary, Mr Miguel Ángel Moratinos, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations.

 

Dear Mr Moratinos, your presence here today is much more than symbolic. Current events highlight the need for an Alliance of Civilizations. It reminds us of our shared fragility and interrelated destinies, and underlines that our only option is unity and solidarity in inclusive societies.

 

And as we are reminded by the motto of the Alliance, “Many Cultures, One Humanity”, it is up to all of us – and, of course, particularly up to our leaders – to promote cultural diversity, religious pluralism and mutual respect. *

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

for yet another year, I kindly ask that you look around at the very monument hosting this event.

The exquisite Rotunda, which was, in turn, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and Christian, is a point of reference in the succession of people, nations, religions, and our shared European history.

 

The mosaic décor of the Rotunda, one of the masterpieces of Late Antiquity art, is dominated by human figures.

Many of them are in prayer.

 

At this critical global juncture, therefore, the prayer of all of us – to the creed that represents everyone – is a single, shared prayer: Peace and solidarity for humanity.

 

In the words of António Gutteres himself, “We have to transcend our differences to transform our future”, therefore “let’s put peace at the heart of our words and actions”.

 

With this in mind, the Theophano Foundation and the peerless personages that have flocked to it will continue to highlight efforts that bring us closer to the goal of a better world, a world of peace, mutual understanding and cooperation.

 

Thank you.