The exhibition was opened by Mr. Borut Pahor, President of the Republic of Slovenia, Prof. Dr. med. Felix Unger, President of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, and Prof. dr. Ludvik Toplak, President of the AMEU opened. At the opening, Dr. Damjan Prelovsek, former ambassador, said: "Mr Gaberi has worked very hard as a sculptor, working on several sculptures across Europe, and I think that this is one of the best sculptors in Slovenia." Andrej Gabrovec – Gaberi explained at the opening: " What do I want to say? The message from European Bridges is that we need to make a change in relationships, bridges are a warning for new relationships and new compassion between people. "

Prof. Dr. Ludvik Toplak, President of Alma Mater Europaea - ECM said at the opening: "The European University Bridges, developed by the academic community, based on traditional principles of European universities with a view to Central Europe, will build and develop a new European identity, the Vision of a new humanism, ethics and aesthetics for peace and development. The cultural and historical identity of Europe was formed by the University of Plato, which in 387 AD lied in the garden of Academos in Athens and which founded an educational institution called Academio. In the middle of the 9^th century, upon the invitation of Prince Kocelj of West Pannonia, St. Cyril and Methodius transferred the key elements of the university, teaching and research to the service of man, humanism and progress. European universities have received a boost in education and research on the foundations of Jewish spirituality, Greek philosophy and Roman law through the establishment of Alma Mater Boloniesis in 1088, in accordance with the principle of Septem Arts liberales. Magna Carta Universitatis of 1988 and the Bologna Declaration of 1999 is declaratory, traditional values ​​- academic, institutional and economic autonomy - for certification, in line with the changing political, economic and cultural conditions in Europe.

Central European universities, which have worked well for centuries, faced local political contradictions when entering the 3^rd millennium, including the Balkan war. The city of Maribor, which stands at the crossroads of Pannonia and the Alps as a legacy of cultural currents in Central Europe, has developed its own academic identity, which, among other things, has confronted the university for centuries above all with great political contradictions. In view of the re-barbarization, the will in academia has been raised to affirm ethics and aesthetics in culture and science through the simultaneous symbolic construction of European university bridges.

The Rector of the University of Vienna symbolically handed over a bust of Fran Miklosic to the University of Maribor during the Millennium with the words: "Miklosic is yours, too." This was followed by gifts from the Charles University in Prague, the Vienna University of Technology, the University of Strasbourg, the University of Szombathely and the University of Ljubljana. On the initiative of the harp-table, a citizens' initiative from Maribor, the artwork of the sculptor Gaberi symbolically connects the universities of Vienna, Prague, Krakow, Vilnius, Zadar, Budapest and others. Active role of the Alma Mater Europaea of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, chaired by President Prof. Dr. med. Felix Unger, gave new impetus to the development of European university bridges and cooperation between universities in Europe.

The AMEU ECM is particularly grateful to receive a special gift from the Semmelweis University in Budapest with the support of the Government of Hungary, namely the bust of the great physician and humanist, Ignaz Semmelweis, who will also delight students of medicine and health sciences in the place of honor at the UKC Maribor site.

AMEU ECM is honored to host the permanent exhibition of the European University Bridges: "This house does not belong to me, whoever goes in, he too will leave it". We want everyone who enters this house to enrich the house with new knowledge, permeated by the idea of a new humanism, ethics and aesthetics in the consciousness of being human. And that is the basis of the message of the European University Bridges. "

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