Introduction
Europe is often described as facing economic, geopolitical or security crises. Yet beneath these
visible challenges lies a deeper and more consequential one: a gradual erosion of the ethical
balance that has shaped European civilization for centuries. Europe did not become a global
centre of culture, science, prosperity and democracy merely because it recognised individual
rights. It succeeded because it maintained a delicate equilibrium between freedom and
responsibility, between the dignity of the individual and the needs of the community, between
personal aspirations and the common good.