University of Lodz is relatively young; however, it is already a part of a great European tradition of freedom of thought.
Europe must be the synthesis of the new and old, of the best components of the two.
For populists, democracy is a way to achieve power, not a way to care about its core values.
The great paradox is that people want more and more power, and more and more often they are voting for undemocratic parties.
No country dominates the entire world today. Afghanistan is the latest example of this.
Lecture by Herman Van Rompuy at #UniLodz:
The honorary reviewers in the procedure of conferment of the title of doctor honoris causa of the University of Lodz were: prof. Roman Kuźniar from the University of Warsaw, prof. Ryszard Piasecki from the University of Lodz, prof. Wolfgang Wessels from the University of Cologne.
Herman Van Rompuy was born in 1947 in Etterbeek, Belgium, in the Brussels-Capital Region. In 1965, he graduated from the College of Saint John Berchmans in Brussels. Three years later he obtained a Bachelor's degree in philosophy at the oldest Belgian university, the Catholic University of Leuven. In 1971 he obtained a Master's degree in economics at the same university. Right after graduation, he worked in the administration of the National Bank of Belgium, while also being actively involved in the Belgian Christian People's Party.
From the mid-1990s Herman Van Rompuy was a member of the Belgian House of Representatives. He was also elected to parliament in 1999, 2003 and 2007. Becoming Prime Minister of Belgium in 2008 was the crowning of domestic political activity of our doctor honoris causa.
In November 2009, he was elected the first full-time President of the European Council, taking office on 1 December 2009 and serving two terms until November 2014.
Throughout the entire period of his political activity, Herman Van Rompuy was also active in academic and cultural life. He was director of the Centre for Political, Economic and Social Studies, and worked as a professor at the Handelshogeschool in Antwerp. After his presidency he was a professor at the University of Leuven and the College of Europe in Bruges.
Edit: Promotion Centre, UL