European integration and enlargement are written “in the genetic code of the Euopean Union”: so says the president of the Commission Romano Prodi in a letter to Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, head of the Department for foreign relations of the Patriarchate of Moscow, following the evaluation made by the Patriarchate on the White Paper on “governance” in Europe. “The extraordinary process of the affirmation of democratic values in countries for too long excluded from the course of European history writes Prodi has fuelled a demand for Europe that cannot remain unanswered”. Prodi does not disguise “the difficulties” of the process of European integration and enlargement but pledges to avoid any kind of standardization. “Europe declares the letter is a continent of many national communities, each with its own character, laws and culture. A compendium of identities (economic, historical, spiritual) that complement each other in a vital way. The real challenge that we face is that of avoiding their homogenization and enabling them all to progress in their vital interconnection”. That’s why the president of the Commission considers “the cultural and spiritual contribution of the Russian Orthodox Church no less indispensable than the other contributions”.
