Europe is going through the opposite of an identity crisis. Perhaps for the first time in history, we can talk about the Spirit of Europe, which, because of Ukraine's will to join it, has been attacked by Putin's Russia. Since its inception, the European Union has deliberately avoided its spirit and focused only on the unification of its "soul," i.e., on economics and bureaucracy. After all, the fact that we, as the Czech Republic, joined the EU for free does not mean that the price of membership of breaking away from a totalitarian regime is not the price Ukraine is now paying.
Where are the historical roots of the spirit of Europe? For the vast majority of its history, that continent has been so internally divided that it is difficult to speak of any kind of unified European spirit. What is the spirit of Europe? How did what historians call the "European miracle" happen in the eighteenth century when Europe's wealth separated it from the rest of the world? What is the difference between the spirit of democracy and the technicalities of democracy? What is the difference between the spirit of capitalism? How did Europe achieve the miracle of the combination of wealth and freedom? Is it in respecting the opposition, a kind of derivation of the Christian "Love your enemies" or cherish your opposition? And where - in the face of war and ecological threat, and energy envy - will the spirit of Europe go in the future? Is the European model a harbinger of a rich and free coexistence of peoples across the planet?
We will debate this with economist and philosopher Tomas Sedlacek and his guests from the angle of history, political science, economics, spirituality and the other Colours of Europe.