"Europe is not just a geographical space, nor is it an area of hoped-for good collaboration between States, it is much more: it is a common culture, values, awareness of exchanges of ideal consonance, of principles of freedom, of law, of respect for every single person: it is all this that has guaranteed that extraordinary phenomenon of the process of European integration, that promise of mutual peace that the peoples and states of Europe exchanged after the Second World War: and in this season, when wars are once again bloodying Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean and other areas of the world, remembering these values and the immense value of these choices is particularly important." Thus, Sergio Mattarella, President of the Republic, spoke yesterday at the inauguration ceremony of the 2023/2024 academic year of the University of Naples Federico II, commemorating the university's eight hundredth anniversary and visiting the university complex of Scampia. Finally, Mattarella expressed gratitude for what the institution has accomplished in Scampia. "This endeavor, which has converted an area strewn with squalor and speculation into a strategic health and social service stronghold, represents not only a remarkable accomplishment but also a message that transcends the incredibly high worth of the healthcare system: it inspires the bravery to surmount fear, a condition that causes apathy, if not dependence on illegal activities, hubris, and exclusion. And, as Benedetto Croce told us, fear is not strength but weakness; it kills rather than builds; only culture builds, which is why universities play such an important role," Mattarella says.
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